Food made in space

Question 1

LED light

Answer 1

electronic device that lights up when electricity is passed through it - abbreviation of ‘light emitting diode’ .

Basically we use LED lighting and we use LED lights that are tuned to a specific wavelength. So, if you image what the rainbow looks like, the reason a plant looks green is because it’s not using all the green light – it actually reflects a lot of that back.

Plants adapt themselves to being in space by manipulating their genes …

Question 2

wavelength

Answer 2

the distance between two waves of light which makes things appear to us in the different colours of the rainbow.

Basically we use LED lighting and we use LED lights that are tuned to a specific wavelength. So, if you image what the rainbow looks like, the reason a plant looks green is because it’s not using all the green light – it actually reflects a lot of that back.

Question 3

photon

Answer 3

single unit of light.

Basically we use LED lighting and we use LED lights that are tuned to a specific wavelength. So, if you image what the rainbow looks like, the reason a plant looks green is because it’s not using all the green light – it actually reflects a lot of that back. So the reason why it looks pink in here is because we’re actually only using red light and blue light to grow the plants, and that essentially tailors the light diet so that the plants look black when you look at them because they’re not reflecting any light – they’re being super-efficient, they’re using up every photon that hits them.

Question 4

microgravity

Answer 4

weaker pull of gravity in space, making things float and seem weightless.

Microgravity is really challenging but plants are amazing! They can adapt to so many different environments – we call this plasticity because they can turn on or off their genes to really adapt to all sorts of conditions and that’s why you see plants growing in different areas on Earth.

Also check: Neuroplasticity

Question 5

plasticity

Answer 5

ability of a plant to adapt to and cope with changes in the environment by changing its biological structure.

Microgravity is really challenging but plants are amazing! They can adapt to so many different environments – we call this plasticity because they can turn on or off their genes to really adapt to all sorts of conditions and that’s why you see plants growing in different areas on Earth.

Question 6

genes

Answer 6

chemicals and DNA in the cells of plants and animals which control their development and behaviour.

Microgravity is really challenging but plants are amazing! They can adapt to so many different environments – we call this plasticity because they can turn on or off their genes to really adapt to all sorts of conditions and that’s why you see plants growing in different areas on Earth.

What was the first food grown in space? potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes

On Earth, plants use gravity to position themselves – shoots grow up, roots grow down.