More than two decades after the United States first sent humans into space, scientists in Madison, Wisconsin, are now exploring how to send live plants into orbit alongside astronauts. This groundbreaking research aims to answer fundamental questions about plant behavior in zero-gravity environments.
“Without gravity, would plants know which way to grow? Can they even survive in space?” asked John Wetzel, a program manager at Sierra Space. The company, based in Colorado, specializes in developing advanced growing systems currently used on the International Space Station (ISS).
The plant research is conducted in a lab on Madison’s west side. This facility is the smallest division of Sierra Space, which employs around 270 people in Madison. The team in Madison focuses on creating technologies that support life in space and propel spacecraft. Their innovations include trash compactors that reduce waste volume by 75%, transforming it into usable “tiles,” and tools that extract oxygen from lunar soil.
The roots of space agriculture research in Madison run deep. Bob Morrow, the principal scientist leading the effort at Sierra Space, began tackling this challenge in the 1980s. As a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Morrow worked under horticulture professor Ted Tibbits, who had received a NASA grant to study potato growth in space.
This ongoing research not only aims to sustain astronauts on long-term missions but also paves the way for future space colonization by ensuring a reliable food supply. The work being done in Madison is a critical step toward making life in space more sustainable and self-sufficient.
