美科學家擬在月球種植蔬菜

Astronauts' meals have come a long way from the freeze-dried powders and semi-liquid pastes of decades ago: now US scientists want to grow vegetables in mini-greenhouses on the Moon.

Scientists say they are looking forward to a time when residents of future lunar or even Martian outposts will be able to dine on fresh vegetables. Paragon Space Development Corporation has unveiled what it called the first step toward growing flowers - and eventually food - on the moon.

Paragon, which has partnered with NASA in previous experiments on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, calls it a "Lunar Oasis".

This is a sealed greenhouse that looks like a bell jar encased in a 46-cm triangular aluminum frame. It is designed to safely land a laboratory plant on the lunar surface, and protect it while it grows.

The miniature greenhouse is to be launched into space by Odyssey Moon Ltd, a participant in the Google Lunar X Prize. This competition offers $20 million to any entrant who can launch, land and operate a rover on the lunar surface.

Paragon officials say future testing of the "Lunar Oasis" will be driven by Odyssey's flight schedule, which will not happen until 2012 at the earliest.

When it does lift off the greenhouse will contain the seeds of Brassica, a hardy plant related to Brussels sprouts and cabbage. Because Brassica goes from seed to flower in just 14 days, it can complete its life cycle in a single lunar night.

"Colonizing the Moon or Mars seems so far away, but it is important that we do this research now," Paragon president Jane Poynter said.

"It takes a long time to get a lot of research, and to get integrated, reliable efficient systems" before colonists move in, she said.

從幾十年前的壓縮食品和半流體膏狀食品，宇航員食品發生了很大變化。而如今美國科學家又希望能在月球上的微型溫室中種植蔬菜。

科學家們稱，他們希望有朝一日未來的月球居民甚至前往火星的人能夠吃到新鮮蔬菜。“Paragon空間發展集團”日前公佈了其在月球培育花朵最終種植食物的第一步規劃。

Paragon公司將這一計劃稱爲“月球綠洲”。該機構與美國宇航局長期合作，曾在航天飛機和國際空間站上做過試驗。

“月球綠洲”是一個密封的溫室，看起來像一個鐘形的玻璃容器，卡在一個高46釐米的鋁製三角框架中。這樣設計是爲了讓實驗室植物能夠安全降落在月球表面，並令其在生長期間一直能得到保護。

這一微型溫室將由奧德賽月球公司發射升空。奧德賽公司是“Google月球X大獎賽”的參賽者，該比賽將爲有能力向月球發射登月飛行器的公司提供2000萬美元的獎勵。

Paragon的官員稱，未來對於“月球綠洲”的測試將取決於奧德賽公司的飛行時間表，最早也要等到2012年。

屆時，“月球綠洲”將攜帶一種生命力極強的蕓薹屬植物種登陸月球，芽甘藍和捲心菜就屬於這類植物。由於蕓薹屬植物從播種到開花只需14天的時間，所以在月球上只需一夜即可完成生命循環。

Paragon的總裁簡•波耶恩特說：“開墾月球或火星似乎非常遙遠，但現在我們開展這項研究十分重要。”

她說：“人們需要很長的時間來開展大量的研究，以在科考站建立之前形成完善、可靠以及有效的系統。”