Paris Air Show: The AstroPlant citizen science initiative, a space greenhouse on Earth

ESA is teaming up with enthusiasts to build a desktop greenhouse for people to grow plants at home and in classrooms to test potential crops for space. ESA’s Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative team, MELiSSA, has been working for over 27 years to create ecosystems for astronauts. They fine-tune how microorganisms, chemicals, catalysts, algae and plants interact to process waste and deliver unending supplies of oxygen, water and food. Getting the data we need would take centuries because scientists would need to grow each plant themselves. Using a citizen science initiative is new for ESA but has great potential. ESA will present a prototype design for an AstroPlant kit at the Paris Air Show. The event is open to general public, plant experts, hackers, scientists, engineers, biologists, designers, artists, software developers and secondary schools as well as high schools and universities.