research

GREENHOUSE DESIGN INTEGRATION

It has been demonstrated that plants can be grown in microgravity, and almost every space programme has included experimental greenhouses to investigate technical and biological feasibility, as well as the habitability-related benefits of plant growth activities in space. 

Aside from nutritional and life support system applications, these benefits include sensory and spatial enhancement of the spacecraft environment, both through the plants as such and the design of their growth chambers, as well as by providing meaningful occupation through individual interaction. In view of long duration missions, plant growth facilities should not be regarded as a desirable add-on, but as an essential component of the habitat.

Following a review of existing greenhouse designs and plants grown on past missions, the paper summarizes the benefits of greenhouses and outlines potential forms of architectural integration within the spacecraft interior.

PUBLICATIONS

Greenhouses and Their Humanizing Synergies
Authors: S. Häuplik-Meusburger, C. Paterson, D. Schubert, P. Zabel
Acta Astronautica, Volume 96, March-April 2014, p. 138-150, 2014

Greenhouses and Their Humanizing Synergies
Authors: S. Häuplik-Meusburger, C. Paterson, D. Schubert, P. Zabel
63rd International Astronautical Congress, Naples, Italy, IAC-12.E5.3.10, 2012

The Road Less Travelled: Humanizing Long-Term Space Missions Using Advanced Greenhouse Design and Miniature Forests
Authors: S. Häuplik-Meusburger, C. Paterson
Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX),  Washington D.C., US, 2012

Greenhouse design integration benefits for extended spaceflight, 2010
Authors: S. Häuplik-Meusburger, R. Peldszus, V. Holzgethan
> read in Acta Astronautica 

 

LocationSpace
Year2010 - 2014
PhotosC. Paterson, Spacefacts, J. Becker