Greenhouse in Antarctica Helping Astronauts on Long-Duration Missions

A few intrepid researchers will begin an arduous journey to Antarctica on Dec. 20 to conduct plant cultivation investigations in an extremely remote region of the world at the German Neumayer III Station, operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). One researcher heading to this desolate wilderness on the Ekstrom Ice Shelf is Jess Bunchek. The plant scientist from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center will be a guest researcher at the German Neumayer III Station, operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). Bunchek will spend about a year investigating plant cultivation in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments in the EDEN ISS greenhouse, managed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Space Systems. These efforts complement NASA research on growing plants in the ultimate closed loop environment – space. For more than 20 years, a multinational partnership has allowed astronauts to live and work in a unique microgravity laboratory aboard the International Space Station. Research conducted at the EDEN ISS greenhouse on this mission could benefit people on Earth and astronauts on future missions to the Moon and Mars.