Effect of Simulated Microgravity on the Cultivation of Cherry Tomatoes in Perlite Enriched with Slow-Release Chemical Fertilizers: Automation Engineering Proposal and Methodology

Abstract

One of the big tasks for humanity is to expand in the universe. However, many steps are needed before the start, one of these is the autonomy of the Earth. Thus, among the problems to solve this, the development of experiments to make viable crops outside the Earth is one of these. For this reason, in this proposal, the Center for Space Emerging Technologies presents an emerging conceptual design project, which is to study the effect of microgravity on the growth of plants with fruits like Cherry tomatoes during their whole growth cycle from the seed to ripe and analyze the differences between Earth and 3D-clinostat with 3-degrees of freedom simulator conditions. Moreover, some new conditions like a different substrate and guiding the plant growth will be added to simulate inert fertilized soil and reduced free space on the ship or greenhouses of the colonies. This project presents the methodology information to be a guide used for aerospace agricultural engineers and physicists in order to perform a future test with high efficiency, considering many factors such as the constant rotational 3D movement, the biology-physiology of the plant, their struggle to maturate in unnatural conditions, and if they are edibles. In conclusion, if favorable results were achieved; consequently the next step for this project is to improve the autonomy of the clinostat with auto-irrigation and light controls, besides the test with other plants like beans, peas, watermelons in order to improve the source of food for astronauts' nutrition during spaceflight for future missions.