Growing food in space

How do you grow food in space? Join Dr Brad Tucker and a panel of experts as they discuss the practical aspects and challenges of living (and eating) in space. The panel will highlight the research being done on improving nutrition for astronauts and future space travellers, and how this research relates to everyday life here on Earth.

Speaker biographies can be found below. This event is part of Served With a Side of Science: A Canberra Food Festival and is presented by Mount Stromlo Observatory and ACT National Science Week with support from the ANU Institute for Space. Check out more events taking place on 14-15 August. 

Ralph Fritsche is the Space Crop Production Project Manager at NASA. He is leading the effort to develop sustainable and reliable fresh food systems in support of long duration space missions beyond low Earth orbit. Ralph began his career with NASA in 1989 and has supported the US Manned Space Program in various engineering and operational roles.

Dr Caitlin Byrt is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow based in the Research School of Biology at the Australian National University. Caitlin’s lab tests and engineers membrane transport proteins called aquaporins that have key roles in helping cells adjust to changes in their environment. Aquaporins are used inside filters to turn bodily waste into drinking water in space, and they are a key target for adapting plants and animals to low gravity environments.

Julio Hernandez - PhD Candidate at the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University

Dr Cheryl McCarthy - Senior Research Fellow in Mechatronic Engineering at the Centre for Agricultural Engineering, University of Southern Queensland