About This Project

In order for longterm space missions to be successful, a renewable food source is needed. We've developed a hydroponic garden specifically designed to function under conditions of microgravity - ETON. We've been offered the opportunity to launch NanoETON on NASA's ISS to test our hypothesis that water can be circulated in microgravity using centripetal force. This research may help the development of hydroponic gardens for future space missions.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

The Garden of ETON is a hydroponic garden developed for use in conditions of microgravity. Most hydroponic gardens are gravity driven and would not function on NASA's International Space Station. The Garden of ETON uses centripetal force for water circulation.We hope to have the opportunity to test a prototype of the Garden of ETON under actual conditions of microgravity, we just need funding to make this possible. We have the opportunity to send a prototype of our project to the ISS via the company NanoRacks LLC. The company, NanoRacks LLC works to get experiments like ours through the NASA safety process so they can be launched to the ISS to experience actual conditions of microgravity. Astronauts will perform and record the results of our experiment.

What is the significance of this project?

For any future long term space mission to be successful a renewable food source is required. Hydroponic gardens seem well suited for future space missions but they will have to be modified to function in conditions of microgravity. The Garden of ETON is designed to function using centripetal force to circulate water. The prototype we wish to send to NASA's International Space Station will test our design in actual conditions of microgravity and could be critical to the development of a renewable food source for use in future space outposts and on long term space missions.

What are the goals of the project?

We hope to see if the mechanics of the Garden of ETON function as we expect under actual conditions of microgravity. We wish to see if water can be circulated using centripetal force in conditions of microgravity. We also wish to see if plants on a small centrifuge in conditions of microgravity will respond to the centripetal force as we predict. The Garden of ETON is designed with the hypothesis that plant's statoliths will respond to the centripetal force they are exposed to and respond by bending towards the center of the centrifuge. We will analyze the growth of small plants growing on plant growth media on the centrifuge on NanoETON.