Grow Crops on Mars Possible? Here’s What This Inflatable Farming Pod Could Do!

The inflatable BioPod, which Interstellar Lab developed, may help plants endure harsh circumstances on Earth and enable settlers on Mars.

Interstellar Lab, a startup business, is also developing a low-Earth orbit stand-alone capsule, which will be set up at NASA's Cape Canaveral in June. Additionally, they are developing an inflatable module for the International Space Station in collaboration with several space agencies.

In the long run, the company wants to integrate its BioPods into a self-sustaining colony on the moon or Mars. A central connector will link chambers for plant growth to comparable pods for habitation and waste processing. But first, Interstellar Lab needs to figure out how to make its technology lightweight, durable, and dependable enough to withstand the harsh vacuum of space, after proofs of concept in the Mojave Desert.

Belvisi thinks that by doing this, her business will also discover methods to enhance conditions on the surface, using more effective technologies for removing carbon dioxide from the air or handling wastewater.

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Interstellar Pop-Up Makes Farming Pods to Grow Crops on Mars

BioPod, an inflatable dome where temperature, humidity, and the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air can be precisely monitored and regulated, is reportedly Interstellar Lab's first product. It resembles a scaled-down version of the Eden Project or something out of a science fiction novel from the 1970s with its all-white facade and a transparent roof. Lab's Founder and CEO, Barbara Belvisi, describes it (per Wired) as a "super-advanced autonomous greenhouse."

The BioPod's terrestrial design comprises a composite foundation that resembles a boat's hull and is packed with electrical and hydraulic machinery for climate control. It has hydroponic and aquaponic technology inside for growing plants without soil. Water is recycled, and sunshine enters through the membrane's transparency. Nutrients are provided via a liquid fertilizer spray customized for the particular plants being produced. A monitoring and adjusting algorithm optimizes the environment for plant development.

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Prototype Pods

Another Wired UK report mentioned that Interstellar Lab is now developing a full-scale prototype in its warehouse close to Paris. Additionally, it is testing uncommon, challenging-to-grow plants like Madagascar vanilla. Instead of harvesting the pods and perhaps unsustainable transporting them across the globe, producers may develop the plant closer to where it is required by simulating its natural habitat in a sealed cage.

According to the manufacturer, BioPod may increase yields, slash energy requirements by a factor of 20, and reduce water consumption by 98 percent. Its numerous Earth-based preorders have come from food suppliers, cosmetics manufacturers, and pharmaceutical corporations whose supply chains are under growing strain.