Agnirva Space Premier League - Expedition #31549: Growing Plants in Space: What Light Teaches Us About Microgravity

Plants are the backbone of life on Earth—and they might also be our key to surviving in space. That’s why students at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart launched an experiment to study how microgravity and light color affect plant growth. With support from NASA and the Lowell Center for Space Science and Technology, they sent their project to the ISS during Expeditions 43/44 and 47/48.

Plants rely on gravity and light to grow. On Earth, gravity helps orient their roots downward and stems upward. In space, where gravity is nearly absent, plants must rely more heavily on light to guide their development—a process known as phototropism. This experiment set out to see how different wavelengths of light (red, blue, and green) influence plant behavior when gravity is removed from the equation.

Students grew small plants in sealed containers under controlled lighting. The same experiment was conducted on Earth for comparison. Observing root direction, stem elongation, and leaf development, the students tracked how the plants responded in space versus Earth.

Findings revealed that red light promoted stem growth, while blue light stimulated more leaf production. Without gravity, roots grew in random directions, but light still played a guiding role. The results provide insights for optimizing lighting systems in space greenhouses.

This kind of research is vital for future space colonization. If we hope to grow our own food on Mars or the Moon, we need to understand how plants behave outside of Earth's gravity. The student experiment contributes to this knowledge by focusing on the simple but powerful variable of light.

This work showcases how educational programs can bridge the classroom and the cosmos, giving young scientists a real role in humanity's space future.

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