The Effect of Irrigation Timing and Duration on Yield and Quality of Aeroponically Grown Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

As astronauts venture further from Earth for longer durations, as seen with NASA’s return of astronauts to the Lunar surface, the demand for food grown in situ (spacecraft, space habitats, etc.) is likely to increase. Due to the water scarcity related to human spaceflight missions, crop production systems and methods with minimal water consumption and volumes must be utilized, which is why NASA and other spaceflight entities are developing aeroponic systems for the microgravity environment. This master’s thesis examines a modular aeroponic system and evaluates its performance against a deep water culture control. Results showed no difference in shoot fresh weight and dry weight between the deep water culture control and aeroponic treatments, which are encouraging results for aeroponics, both commercially on Earth as well as space applications