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"I'm a fairly visual thinker. In doing science, I think in terms of pictures of things happening, and then do the mathematics."
- Gregory Benford
 |
| Hydroponics in Space | ||
| Growing plants for food without soil on a spacecraft. |
Fairly early description of a simple method for growing food in space.
| "I wanted to show you," Mitch said. "I brought seeds, and these little plastic tubes with holes in them, that you can string around inside a bubb. The weight is next to nothing. Put the seeds in the tubes, and water with plant food in solution. The plants come up through the holes. Hydroponics. Gotta almost do it, if I'm going way out to Mars without much supplies. Maybe, before I get there, I'll have even ripe tomatoes! 'Cause, with sun all the time, the stuff grows like fury, they say. I'll have string beans and onions and flowers, anyhow! Helps keep the air oxygen-fresh, too. Wish I had a few bumble bees! 'Cause now I'll have to pollenate by hand..." |
| Technovelgy from The Planet Strappers,
by Raymond Z. Gallun. Published by Pyramid Books in 1961 Additional resources -
|
The word "hydroponics" was coined in the 1930's, but the idea dates from the 1600's, when experiments were done to see what elements were necessary for plant growth.
Compare to the chlorella plantation from The Space Merchants (1952), by Frederik Pohl (w/CM Kornbluth) and the lifezone from Tides of Light (1989), by Gregory Benford.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Planet Strappers
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Tech news articles related to The Planet Strappers
Tech news articles related to works by Raymond Z. Gallun
Hydroponics in Space-related
news articles:
- Tomatoes From Sun And Seawater
| SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha |
| NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts |
| Orbital Mechanics, The Liftoff, The Turnover, The Retrograde Burn |
| Can A Human Land A SpaceX Rocket On Its Tail? |
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'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
'...he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it.'
