EDEN LUNA – a greenhouse for growing the future of food
EDEN LUNA – a greenhouse for growing the future of food
EDEN LUNA – Plant cultivation on the Moon and Earth
In the EDEN LUNA project, researchers are investigating how people can be supplied with fresh fruit and vegetables during long-term missions – whether on board a spacecraft, on the Moon or Mars, or even here on Earth.
The EDEN LUNA project is part of the EDEN (Evolution & Design of Environmentally-closed Nutrition-Sources) research initiative. Launched in 2011, this initiative is a research programme that designs greenhouse concepts and analyses their applicability for planetary research stations and habitats.
Future food supplies
The EDEN-LUNA project involves researchers from the DLR Institutes of Space Systems, Data Science, Robotics and Mechatronics, and Aerospace Medicine, and focuses on:
Optimising the nutrient supply system
Improving energy efficiency
The potential integration of robotic systems
Characterising the microbiome within the greenhouse
To ensure fresh and healthy food production in a life support system intended for use on long-term missions in space and on Earth, both the quality and health of the plants must be closely monitored. This is the only way to avoid plant stress in the long term and to virtually eliminate, or reduce to a minimum, the use of pesticides that can cause problems in a closed system. The reliability of the components in this closed cycle is critically important. The expansion, renewal and integration of intelligent robotics, data analysis and fault detection and correction can make a significant contribution to the robustness of the system, making it both valuable for risky exploration missions and cost-effective for use on Earth.
From Antarctica to the Moon – EDEN ISS becomes EDEN LUNA
EDEN-LUNA builds on the successfully completed, EU-funded EDEN ISS greenhouse project. DLR used the EDEN ISS greenhouse – the largest test greenhouse for vegetable cultivation in space to date – to test plant cultivation in the inhospitable environment of Antarctica, replicating the conditions of a long-term mission in space as closely as possible. Cut off from the outside world, the greenhouse stood near the Neumayer III Antarctic station operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) from early 2018 to late 2022. Vegetables, salad ingredients and herbs grew on the seventh continent during the polar night completely without soil, with the help of artificial light and optimised nutrient solutions.
The greenhouse, known as the Mobile Test Facility (MTF), was dismantled in Antarctica and transported back to the DLR site in Bremen aboard the Polarstern icebreaker in April 2023. Since then, at the DLR Institute of Space Systems, EDEN ISS has undergone extensive refurbishment for a second major test run. The greenhouse will be converted into the EDEN LUNA analogue simulator for a second phase of life in 2025, and will be used to train prospective lunar astronauts with a view to humanity's upcoming return to the Moon.
Greenhouse conversion for lunar training in the LUNA facility in Cologne
With the expansion, the upgraded greenhouse will be more digital, networked and resource-efficient, and will include a robotic arm to support astronauts during their training in the LUNA facility in Cologne. In the future, cameras and AI-controlled greenhouse management will monitor and care for the plants. In addition, urine will be processed into a nutrient solution and integrated into the greenhouse cycle.
The greenhouse will be connected to the LUNA test facility at the DLR site in Cologne to expand the analogue lunar environment simulation, and to test initial procedures and requirements for a lunar habitat with a closed bioregenerative life support system in conjunction with the LUNA network.
Background information: LUNA test and training facility
Astronauts flying to the Moon will be trained in Cologne at the LUNA test and training facility on DLR grounds. The facility is being commissioned in stages, opening on 25 September 2024. The converted EDEN LUNA greenhouse will be integrated into this research facility. The LUNA test and training facility is a joint project of DLR and the European Space Agency (ESA), which operates the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne.
The DLR Institutes of Space Systems, Data Science, Robotics and Mechatronics, and Aerospace Medicine are involved in the EDEN-LUNA greenhouse project through various contributions. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) creates fully controlled environments for growing plants. CEA-complementary systems, ranging from algae reactors and food processing to waste management, will be added to EDEN-LUNA in stages.
The EDEN-LUNA greenhouse is initially planned to operate within the LUNA project in Cologne until 2026, with plans for expansion. Operations will be supported by the EDEN Mission Control Center (MCC) in Bremen.
News
Loading
EDEN LUNA project – Evolution and Design of Environmentally-closed Nutrition-sources
The LUNA hall (the Luna Analog Facility) at DLR's site in Cologne. This is where the EDEN LUNA greenhouse will be connected to support astronauts in their training. The LUNA hall (also known as 'the Moon on Earth') is a joint project of DLR and the European Space Agency (ESA). This pioneering facility is designed to prepare future astronaut and robotic lunar missions and was officially opened on 25 September 2024.
