Florida company plans AI-controlled plant experiment aboard space station
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A Florida-based company is preparing a plant-growing experiment for the International Space Station that could help researchers develop ways to grow food on future moon and Mars missions.Voyager Technologies announced Monday that it signed a contract with Interstellar Lab to manage the hosting of BioPod EDEN, an autonomous plant-growth chamber, aboard the orbiting laboratory.The project has a Kennedy Space Center connection: Interstellar Lab’s space science and operations leader, Ralph Fritsche, joined the company after 34 years with NASA at Kennedy, where he most recently managed space crop production, according to the announcement.Comparing plants in space and on EarthThe chamber’s artificial intelligence system is designed to monitor and adjust the growing environment while researchers compare the results with a matching experiment on the ground.The first mission is planned to last between 30 days and three months in orbit.Voyager will support engineering, safety reviews, testing, i