The Conversation contributed the article to Space.com's expert voices.
Thomas Graham is an assistant professor of environmental sciences at the University of Guelph.
The question of whether to spend money on outer space exploration or use it to solve serious problems on Earth is a contentious one. There is an argument in favor of space exploration that helps study, monitor and address serious concerns like climate change and food production.
The potential for benefits from space exploration grows as access to space increases.
Space-based advances have improved agriculture. It is likely that food items have been produced with the help of space-based technologies, such as freeze-dried foods, or through the use of crop monitoring from space-based observatory.
Astronauts look to the future of salads.
Satellite monitoring is one of the greatest benefits of space for farming. Satellites watch over farmlands all over the world. NASA's Landsat, the European Space Agency's Envisat and the Canadian Space Agency's RADARSAT are some of the satellites that have specialized sensors on them.
If we know when and how fast soils are drying, we can use that information to direct more efficient irrigation. Satellites help predict floods and plant disease.
Satellite data can help us predict food security.
Machines that are lifeless are not the only ones that live in space. Humans have been able to survive and grow plants in low-earth space. Space is a harsh environment for life to exist in due to the lack of gravity and the effects of Cosmic Radiation.
Plants can reach into their genetic toolbox and remake the tools they need to adapt to space, according to Anna-Lisa Paul. New tools and behaviors expressed by plants under spaceflight conditions could be used to solve challenges faced by crops in Earth's changing climate.
The cotton seeds were sent to the International Space Station to be studied. Cotton plant varieties with a deeper root system will be able to access and absorb water more efficiently from the soil in areas that are prone to dry spells.
Humans will travel to the moon and eventually to Mars. They will have to grow their own food.
Plants can be grown in space if the conditions are right. These containers can be used to grow plants without the need for soil. The modern-day vertical farm sector is based on NASA's research in controlled environment systems to grow plants.
Now a burgeoning industry, vertical farms are cranking out enormous volumes of fresh and healthy leafy crops with a fraction of the water and nutrients that would be used in land based farm systems. The need for long-distance transport can be cut by setting up vertical farms in urban areas.
As crops are grown indoors in controlled environments, vertical farms can reduce reliance on pesticides and herbicides.
Crop production techniques need to be more efficient in order to fit in with the constraints of space. Crops need to be rich in nutrition and able to survive high stress environments. These features are good for crops.
Scientists are working on a potato crop where the whole plant can be eaten. It will be important to address food and nutrition on Earth and in space.
Technology has been driven by space exploration. New opportunities to improve agriculture can be provided by the renewed interest in space. Innovations that are out of this world can help us tackle the threats posed by global climate change.
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