If one were to go on a long voyage, a very important aspect to think of would be having enough supplies – you can have the best crew on board, but without the basic sustenance of food, you would only be traveling in a “coffin”. Having said that, a NASA challenge has resulted in the AstroGro, which happens to be a space garden pod that has been specially developed in order to address the issue of not having enough food on long, drawn out manned missions in space. AstroGro will fall back on 3D printing, using it to produce a system which can be replicated and modified even when one is in orbit.
Sporting artificial intelligence that will monitor the area to ensure ideal growing conditions are met, the AstroGro system can be smartphone controlled, as well as being used by other compatible mobile devices. The idea of using plants as supplemental food, not to mention to help in the recycling of air, human waste and helping to remove toxins, is a good one. Apart from that, having fresh food while one is in space would be a surefire way to boost morale.
In a nutshell, AstroGro is a 3D-printed device for growing food, and it boasts of LED lights, a watering system, and an electronic monitoring system to get the job done.