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Can plants be used to clean pollutants from the atmosphere in a space station? Maybe not: https://www.gardenmyths.com/garden-myth-born-plants-dont-purify-air/

Can plants be used to clean pollutants from the atmosphere in a space station? Maybe not: https://www.gardenmyths.com/garden-myth-born-plants-dont-purify-air/ https://www.gardenmyths.com/garden-myth-born-plants-dont-pur... https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/03/indoor-plants-clean-air-best-none-them/584509/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/03/indoor-p...

nitrogen 7y ago
It seems like as a rough approximation your plants would need to grow at least as much biomass as you eat every day.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- chongli 7y ago
  Yeah, so fast-growing lettuce, kale, herbs, radishes, carrots, peas, and green onions would be the order of the day.
  - noir_lord 7y ago
    Or a fast growing edible fungus. Space Quorn!
    - virusduck 7y ago
      Happy Space Thanksgiving! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ5ljKctOSk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ5ljKctOSk
- jacobush 7y ago
  "Space in space" is cramped only because we put up too small living quarters. But an inflatable balloon only for growing things in it need not be especially rigid or robust. It wouldn't even have to be rigidly fixed to the living quarters, it could float a bit to the side connected only by flexible tubing.
  - fox8091 7y ago
    That's not really true thanks to micrometeors. They'd have it ripped to shreds, and if it was connected to the main habitation units, would remove the air from there too.
    - 0xffff2 7y ago
      This isn't a new idea [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Expandable_Activity_Module https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Expandable_Activity_Mo...
    - logfromblammo 7y ago
      I think I'd take inspiration from the sandstone fortifications I saw in Florida as a kid, that stopped cannonballs by basically eating them whole with a super-thick barrier of soft sandstone. Cook up aerogel panels 1m thick, and layer them over your inflatable shell. The panels would still be translucent to sunlight, although it would scatter significantly. Micrometeorites would plow into the aerogel, making micro-tunnels in it until the kinetic energy dissipates. The micrometeorites would then remain embedded in the panels. Larger impacts could still plow through the panels completely, to breach the inflatable envelope, but those are more easily tracked and avoided. Panels that get too shredded can be replaced, and the micrometeorites harvested from them for study.

nitrogen 7y ago

It seems like as a rough approximation your plants would need to grow at least as much biomass as you eat every day.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
chongli 7y ago
Yeah, so fast-growing lettuce, kale, herbs, radishes, carrots, peas, and green onions would be the order of the day.
- noir_lord 7y ago
  Or a fast growing edible fungus. Space Quorn!
  - virusduck 7y ago
    Happy Space Thanksgiving! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ5ljKctOSk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ5ljKctOSk
jacobush 7y ago
"Space in space" is cramped only because we put up too small living quarters. But an inflatable balloon only for growing things in it need not be especially rigid or robust. It wouldn't even have to be rigidly fixed to the living quarters, it could float a bit to the side connected only by flexible tubing.
- fox8091 7y ago
  That's not really true thanks to micrometeors. They'd have it ripped to shreds, and if it was connected to the main habitation units, would remove the air from there too.
  - 0xffff2 7y ago
    This isn't a new idea [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Expandable_Activity_Module https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Expandable_Activity_Mo...
  - logfromblammo 7y ago
    I think I'd take inspiration from the sandstone fortifications I saw in Florida as a kid, that stopped cannonballs by basically eating them whole with a super-thick barrier of soft sandstone. Cook up aerogel panels 1m thick, and layer them over your inflatable shell. The panels would still be translucent to sunlight, although it would scatter significantly. Micrometeorites would plow into the aerogel, making micro-tunnels in it until the kinetic energy dissipates. The micrometeorites would then remain embedded in the panels. Larger impacts could still plow through the panels completely, to breach the inflatable envelope, but those are more easily tracked and avoided. Panels that get too shredded can be replaced, and the micrometeorites harvested from them for study.