HP Z Workstations

It’s 1:30 in the morning here on earth, while the astronauts aboard the International Space Station are waking up to their first of 16 daily sunrises.

You only need to look out the window to see that life on the International Space Station is nothing like life on earth. At the end of a narrow, metallic corridor, there is something that appears out of place in this harsh environment. You’ll see a glowing pink light coming from a small 12”x15” enclosure blooming with orange zinnias and red romaine lettuce: the station’s flower and vegetable garden.

Another sun rises as the space farmers begin their busy workday. Their faces are bathed in the space farming module’s pink light as they tend to their plants and vegetables. The plants produce more than just food or data; they give farmers the sights, smells, feelings and tastes of home.

Like the HP ZBook’s onboard used for science, research and connecting with home, the space farming program is one of the station’s few reminders and smells of Earth, in an otherwise sterile environment. It serves as both a vital source of nutrients a familiar piece of home. It’s a single bit of normalcy that makes reinventing new frontiers a little bit easier.

The space farming program on the International Space Station uses a lighting system that is precise to the minute and regulates the exact light recipe to maximize the growth of the plants. It also uses bags of dirt with seeds glued in them. The space dirt is specially sized calcined clay designed to hold air and water for the plant roots in zero gravity.

The water is delivered through intricately designed tube systems and capillary action from the water reservoir. The plant food is a precisely controlled fertilizer system mixed with the space dirt releasing critical nutrients over time. Fan-guided airflow facilitates air-exchange and enables plant transpiration in zero gravity in order to produce healthy, nutritious food with the best possible nutrients. And to make sure it tastes good.

The program is a dichotomy of technology. It combines simple solutions—like dirt in a bag—with cutting-edge technology like HP ZBook Workstations. It’s that NASA ingenuity—guided by common sense —that keeps them reinventing new frontiers.

Imagine going on a road trip, but once you close the door and are on your way, you won’t be able to open it again for at least one year. No stopping for fresh food or snacks along the way. Just you, your crew and your craft. That’s the challenge NASA faces as we look toward Mars.

To prepare for future missions to Mars, NASA’s space farming program launched Veggie in 2014 to create a fresh, renewable food source for astronauts on the International Space Station. It was designed to make the space station, or any long-duration space flight, more habitable.

The space farming program could reduce cargo requirements by replacing food packages with seeds to grow plants, which will enable astronauts to supplement their prepackaged diet with the nutrient-rich, tasty food they’d eat at home. It provides the self-sufficiency needed to make the two-year journey.

It is advancements like these that are so crucial to space exploration. The space farming program both improves the quality of life during space travel and extends the distances we can explore while NASA reinvents new frontiers.