Strawberry Fields Forever

Palomar · 2005-02-23 07:34:30

http://www.space-travel.com/news/food-05b.html]Let me take you down 'cause I'm going to

--Mars or the Moon (hopefully Mars instead), etc. (And I had that Beatles song in mind last night before falling asleep. ) Did check the most recent threads in this folder and also did Search; I don't see this as having been posted before.

From scientists at KSC, Space Life Sciences Laboratory. They're also growing peppers and tomatoes.

The strawberries currently being tested are classified as "short day plants," meaning they can be induced to flower under low-light conditions, a situation that may be an issue when growing plants under spacecraft-like environments.
In addition, their blooms are generally situated outside the canopy structure of the plant. This is important since there are no bees in space, and the blooms have to be pollinated either mechanically or by hand.
These crops can also augment the crew's diet with fresh flavors and add different textures to their diet of prepackaged foods. Furthermore, antioxidants from strawberries and tomatoes can help to reduce the cellular oxidative stress astronauts may face from cosmic radiation once they leave Earth's protective magnetic field.

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2005-02-23 07:42:41

"Once they leave and are a few million miles away from Earth, anything they bring from home is going to have a huge psychological effect. For years, plants have been used as therapy," says Jeff Richards, a plant physiologist with Dynamac Corp.
"Being able to complete their tasks and then have a few hours (or minutes) to sit back and smell the aroma of fresh grown plants, smell the aroma of growing strawberries, work with them and talk with them, the benefits are just immeasurable."

Yep! I think the psychological effect would be as important as anything else.
A good idea all round.

[I suppose grapes are out of the question? ??? ]

SpaceNut · 2005-02-23 11:38:18

So if we eat all the food and have no new seeds to plant; farming whether in 0g, on the moon, or on mars will matter little. What research has been done on the pollination systems for these conditions is the next step, it would appear.

Commodore · 2005-02-23 12:28:39

So if we eat all the food and have no new seeds to plant; farming whether in 0g, on the moon, or on mars will matter little. What research has been done on the pollination systems for these conditions is the next step, it would appear.

So we save a couple Strawberrys for seeds. It doesn't strike me as a dealbraker.

I wouldn't think pollination would be too hard either.

Rxke · 2005-02-23 13:25:32

But how much of a headache would these nice smells cause in a small closed ciruit?

Not kidding... But a gentle sniff outside of sun-warmed flowers is ok, but imagine the smell cant 'go' anywhere? How good will airpurification be?

(You can always count on me to be the 'no flowers allowed in *my* ship, you steenkin' hippies!' pain in the posterior! )

Shaun Barrett · 2005-02-23 16:21:44

Rik:-

(You can always count on me to be the 'no flowers allowed in *my* ship, you steenkin' hippies!' pain in the posterior! )

:laugh:

Palomar · 2005-02-23 20:34:09

*Aw, poor Rik; he was born too late? :;): Actually I was born too late as well. Blame it on Rita (teenaged babysitter to my sis and I in the late 60s/early 70s), her brother Alan and their group of friends in the neighborhood. What a benign, fun influence. :laugh: Oh, and my really good memory gets some credit too. How many 4-year-olds of the time remembered Apollo 11 into adulthood? ??? I remember Rita in her clothing of that time, saying "groovy" into the telephone while talking with a friend. I thought she was a Goddess; I was in such awe of her. I guess she'd be about 50 now. (Tsk, tsk Shaun...you having been a teenager in '60s swinging London and all...<shakes head sadly>)

Ah well, getting off topic.

Back on topic:

Would be interesting to tour the KSC SLS Lab. I wonder what type of "peppers" they're attempting to grow. Most chile peppers (of which there are a very great variety) and members of that family have lots of antioxidants in them, IIRC. It'd be SO easy making a simple salsa relish, if onions grow well: Finely diced tomatoes, onion and jalapeno peppers. If herbs grow well, finely mince some cilantro, mix it into the salsa -- you've got the genuine article and it livens up so many dishes. I have a hunch salsa will be made often "out there."

In addition, their (strawberry) blooms are generally situated outside the canopy structure of the plant. This is important since there are no bees in space, and the blooms have to be pollinated either mechanically or by hand.

Interesting too that they can be "induced to flower" in conditions of low lighting. :up:

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2005-02-23 22:21:54

Back off topic:

Cindy quote:- "(Tsk, tsk Shaun...you having been a teenager in '60s swinging London and all...<shakes head sadly>)"

I've only just realized the third digit in '1955' on my Birth Certificate should have read '6'. It was just a typo, a silly error!
You believe me, don't you Rik? .. Cindy?
Aww, come on guys - don't turn away like that .. <sob sob>

Palomar · 2005-02-23 22:45:38

Back off topic:
Cindy quote:- "(Tsk, tsk Shaun...you having been a teenager in '60s swinging London and all...<shakes head sadly>)"
I've only just realized the third digit in '1955' on my Birth Certificate should have read '6'. It was just a typo, a silly error!
You believe me, don't you Rik? .. Cindy?
Aww, come on guys - don't turn away like that .. <sob sob>

*Oh, um...SURE Shaun. Your DOB is 21 June 1965? Lessee, that'd make me 1 month and 3 days older than you.

Take a deep breath: I'll hit the big 4-0 before you, baby.

--Cindy :;):

P.S.: I think I'll celebrate my birthday with some of those Kennedy Space Center strawberries dipped in chocolate. Really, we MUST be able to grow/develop the coca bean in space, on Mars, whatever. Chocolate: Don't leave Earth without it!

Rxke · 2005-02-24 01:39:05

Really, we MUST be able to grow/develop the coca bean in space, on Mars, whatever. Chocolate: Don't leave Earth without it!

Eeeeh?

I thought you hippies smoked something else? Surely you don't want to export that yuppie cocaine stuff to Mars? It'll be a working-man/woman place for decades, no place for that kind of things.

Oooh, you meant cocoa bean... Hmmm. You did, i hope?
(squinting very suspiciously at you )

Shaun Barrett · 2005-02-24 02:11:57

Hmmm ... coca, eh?! ???

And our Cindy said that??!!

Sheeeeshh. You think you know people. :hm:

Palomar · 2005-02-24 09:01:02

::EDIT:: Went back and re-read this...I sound angry at Rik and Shaun. :-\ I know you guys were only teasing me. I was upset with -myself- for the typo. Caught myself making another typo just a few minutes ago; I'm a perfectionist when it comes to spelling and etc. The stress must be worse than I'd thought, if I'm making simple spelling errors. :hm:

*Good grief. I meant cocoa. I thought I'd spelled it cocoa. If you only knew what my yesterday was like (that damned bank and waiting for hours -- literally -- for them to get our new mortgage papers downloaded from the Florida office, then printed out so we could sign them...[we got an interest rate which can't be beat nor passed up on the mortgage]...then signing umpteen papers). I've never had to wait nearly 3 hours for anything in a bank...grrrrrrr!

For the record: I've never done cocaine. I'll never do cocaine. It wasn't in my conscious mind. Perhaps it was deeply subconsciously present given Rik's bringing up the "hippie" refererence (hippies didn't do coke anyway), i.e. pertaining to the drug culture. I didn't even bring up the hippie issue -- it was just a coincidence that a Beatles song came to mind and then the strawberry article.

I also don't smoke pot nor do any illicit substances. I don't even drink much liquor; maybe 3 or 4 cocktails per year.

This is just to clear the record, sheesh. COCOA beans -- chocolate.

I misspelled a word ::gasp:: Unfortunately (a rarity, I know). But yesterday was stressful and aggravating.

(Oh...and I'm not a "hippie." If anything, I'd have been a Mod). :laugh:

--Cindy

Back on topic...

C M Edwards · 2005-02-25 11:18:08

*Good grief. I meant cocoa. I thought I'd spelled it cocoa. If you only knew what my yesterday was like (that damned bank and waiting for hours -- literally -- for them to get our new mortgage papers downloaded from the Florida office, then printed out so we could sign them...[we got an interest rate which can't be beat nor passed up on the mortgage]...then signing umpteen papers). I've never had to wait nearly 3 hours for anything in a bank...grrrrrrr!

Hmm... perhaps hot cocoa is called for after all. Quickly. :;):

I was worried for a while that coffee wouldn't grow on mars. However, after some research, I've determined that cafe arabica is very resilient in terms of low light tolerance, handles a wide range of temperatures, and is really only picky about its humidity. So, we can have coffee on Mars.

Strawberries are even hardier than coffee. With dozens of fragiria species to chose from, most of them edible, surely at least one will like Marsian greenhouse conditions. (I'm trying to eradicate an inedible one in my back yard that's so tough it could probably grow on Mars right now, saving the trouble of a greenhouse.)

Perhaps cocoa will be similarly accomodating.

C M Edwards · 2005-02-25 11:19:29

Oops! Double Post.

Shaun Barrett · 2005-02-25 17:18:06

Cindy:-

I know you guys were only teasing me. ... *Good grief. I meant cocoa. I thought I'd spelled it cocoa.

I never would have noticed the error myself but, when Rik picked it up, the opportunity for ribbing was simply too good to miss!

[Trust Rik! The whole thing suited the mood perfectly - what with the strawberries ('Strawberry Fields Forever') and the "steenkin' hippies" gag. Great stuff! ]

Rxke · 2005-02-25 18:05:18

Indeed, given the Spirit of the discussion, this Opportunity was too good to let go!

My apologies. It's a deeply ingrained family trait, this leg-pulling tendency...

Shaun Barrett · 2005-02-25 21:28:40

<GROAN!>

My apologies.

We regret to inform you your apology has not been accepted. Your humour has been classified as 'cruel and unusual punishment' and a threat to NASA-nal Security.
You have been tried and convicted, in absentia, of inflicting grievously unpunny jokes. And it is the decision of this court that you be condemned to a one-way trip to Mars in a Hab full of 'steenkin' hippies' high on coca beans and strawberry juice, without right of appeal.
Case closed!

Palomar · 2005-02-26 06:56:17

*There's no need to apologize for anything, Rik.

It was a heck of a typo, though. And considering how the drug culture is closely linked to the 1960s... <groan>.

CM Edwards: I was worried for a while that coffee wouldn't grow on mars. However, after some research, I've determined that cafe arabica is very resilient in terms of low light tolerance, handles a wide range of temperatures, and is really only picky about its humidity. So, we can have coffee on Mars.

I often wonder how Mars soil might make foods and etc taste different. Or if, say, a pumpkin would grow larger or smaller on average on Mars. As for coffee, I like the gourmet stuff (regular...PASS).

--Cindy

P.S.: And speaking of caffeine, I had too much yesterday (chocolate). Disrupted my :sleep: last night (palpitations, restlessness) and I feel like a zombie this a.m. :-\ Maybe coffee beans on Mars (and cocoa beans) will be naturally decaffeinated.

Shaun Barrett · 2005-02-26 07:27:27

Cindy:-

*There's no need to apologize for anything, Rik.

??? Is it possible, Cindy, you didn't notice what Rik said?

Rik:-

Indeed, given the Spirit of the discussion, this Opportunity was too good to let go!

Or are you just very forgiving?

I think he deserves everything he gets after that remark!!! :laugh:

Palomar · 2005-02-26 10:08:20

Cindy:-
*There's no need to apologize for anything, Rik.
??? Is it possible, Cindy, you didn't notice what Rik said?
Rik:-
Indeed, given the Spirit of the discussion, this Opportunity was too good to let go!
Or are you just very forgiving?
I think he deserves everything he gets after that remark!!! :laugh:

*Hi Shaun: Today I'm a very forgiving -and- very sleepy person. No really, I need a bucket of ice water splashed over my head...might snap me out of it (danged caffeine from yesterday, infering with last night's sleep).

Rik got me again. S & O...very appropriate.

But really...pumpkins on Mars. Yes? No? Cool? Uncool? They should try some experiments, if they've not already. Gotta have pumpkins on Mars -- they're round and orange after all. (And cute and edible and can't have Halloween without them). Future children of Mars deserve pumpkins!

::off soapbox::

--Cindy

Rxke · 2005-02-26 11:15:35

Today I'm a very forgiving -and- very sleepy person.

How hippiecal...

*runs off before Shaun reads this*

Palomar · 2005-02-26 12:12:02

*runs off before Shaun reads this*

*Needn't run off so quickly. If my calculations are correct, it is -- as I type this (and about an hour after you posted) -- 3:10 a.m. Sunday morning Shaun's time.

So he's doubtless :sleep: in the Land of Nod, oblivious to the world, us, even perhaps his own snoring (IF he snores; his wife would know, ha ha).

But once he wakes up and gets back online...get Rik!

--Cindy :;):

Shaun Barrett · 2005-02-26 17:51:37

Rik:-

How hippiecal...

Right ... that's it; now it's contempt of court as well!!
:angry:
In addition to your incarceration with 'steenkin' hippies' in a Hab, you are sentenced to 30 lashes. Upon arrival in Mars orbit .. wait for it .. yes .. you will be tied to the Mars Express orbiter just prior to the deployment of its radar antenna!

Designed for ESA by Dickbill, and originally based on plans he'd drawn up for a self-flagellation machine he was building in his basement, the Mars Express radar antenna will whip back and forth uncontrollably, delivering the lashes Rik so richly deserves.
[ ]
This court is adjourned. Take the prisoner away!

Palomar · 2005-02-26 18:15:21

*Yeah! Tell him, Shaun! And how quickly Rik forgets about us being locked into that room together on Mars, and how we had to escape together -- cooperation. We beat the bad guys (temporarily) by tossing "blueberries" into their path and making them fall, etc.

Now I'm a "steenkin hippie."

Hmmmm...this must be Lord Vlork's handiwork. Maybe Rik hasn't consistently worn his metal helmet and LV brainwashed him into turning against me...and who's next? :hm:

Maybe we'd better take this over into the "You're a 1st Marsian Settler" thread. :angry:

--Cindy

Rxke · 2005-02-26 18:17:08

Yay! Sounds like a free ride to me!

Up to New Australia, heehee!

Laughing an punning all the way to the... Mars penal colony.

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