.NASA is bringing the application of horticultural lighting to another level: the space. Aiming to provide fresh food supplies for astronauts off the earth, NASA has employed LED lighting system for researching the efficient possibilities to produce food during space travel.

(Image: NASA)

In Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a growth chamber was installed with customized LED lighting system developed by Osram to control and monitor the lighting conditions of plants. The Osram Phytofy RL system is featured with UV channel which helps researchers to add UV light and observe the reaction of plants. Further, there are more LEDs providing higher Photosynthetic Photon Flux (PPF) for measuring light emission to determine the most effective light recipes. An irradiance map is also included so the researchers can change the setting without measuring irradiance separately.

The research teams of NASA have been experimenting adjusting the light to create optimal environment for accelerating the growth cycles of plants and increasing the harvest. The lighting system can be tuned to provide different wavelengths radiation to enhance the flavors or to intensify the nutrients of plants.

(Image: NASA)

Steve Graves, Strategic Program Manager of Urban & Digital Farming, Osram Innovation, Americas Region, said “Osram is developing smart, innovative lighting technologies that can improve food production in a variety of environments, even unique environments like space.”