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How to grow space food

5 December 2022

UCL Emeritus Professor Steve Miller appears as a guest on BBC Radio 4 'Gardeners' Question Time', describing the many challenges facing astronauts who might want to grow plants to eat in space.

4 men standing by a small tree in a garden in Flamstead, Bedfordshire, including Professor Steve Miller (far right)

In 2008, a special tree was planted in Flamstead, Bedfordshire. On the surface the plane tree seems normal, but it has an inter-galactic pedigree that is far from down-to-earth. Matt Biggs (BBC Gardeners' Question Time) took Dr Robert Massey from the Royal Astronomical Society and Emeritus Professor Steve Miller from University College London (UCL P&A/STS/CPS) to visit the tree and its owner.

The sycamore, or plane tree as more commonly known outside the USA, is second-generation 'Moon tree'. The original Moon Trees grew from seeds carried around the Moon in 1971 by astronaut Stuart Roosa, pilot of Apollo 14's Command Module, in his personal flight kit. Over 2000 seeds of various tree types were taken aboard Apollo to study the effects of prolongued weightlessness on seed germination and seedling growth. 

Professor Steve Miller describes the many challenges, ranging from resources to radiation, facing astronauts who might want to grow plants to eat on the moon or elsewhere in the cosmos.

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  • Professor Steve Miller (far right) and co-guests from the BBC Radio 4 'Gardeners' Question Time' show in the Flamstead garden with the second-generation 'Moon tree'. Credit: BBC Radio 4.