Pop-Up Farming Pods to Help Colonizers Grow Crops on Mars
Interstellar Lab’s inflatable BioPod is designed to help plants survive inhospitable conditions on Earth and allow explorers to settle on the Red Planet.
Barbara Belvisi, the founder and CEO of Interstellar Lab, claims the organization she formed in 2018 intends to “create the optimal climatic and atmospheric conditions for life.” The goal isn’t just to advance the “multi-planetary” species that billionaires like; it’s also to enhance life on Earth. According to Belvisi, her business’s technology could address problems like food scarcity and habitat degradation.
The first product from Interstellar Lab is called BioPod, an inflatable dome that allows for precise monitoring and control of the air’s temperature, humidity, oxygen content, and carbon dioxide content. It resembles a scaled-down version of the Eden Project or something out of a science fiction novel from the 1970s with its all-white facade and a transparent roof. Belvisi describes it as a “super-advanced autonomous greenhouse.”
The BioPod’s terrestrial design comprises a composite foundation that resembles a boat’s hull and is packed with electronic and hydraulic machinery for climate control. It has hydroponic and aquaponic technology inside for growing plants without soil. Water is recycled, and sunshine enters through the membrane’s transparency. Nutrients are provided by a liquid fertilizer spray customized for the plants being produced. A monitoring and adjusting algorithm optimizes the environment for plant growth. A full-scale prototype is currently being developed by Interstellar Lab in its warehouse next to Paris. Additionally, it is testing uncommon, challenging-to-grow plants like Madagascar vanilla. Instead of harvesting the pods and perhaps unsustainable shipping them across the globe, producers can develop the plant closer to where it is required by simulating its natural environment in a sealed cage.
According to the manufacturer, BioPod may increase yields, cut energy requirements by a factor of 20, and reduce water use by 98 percent. Its numerous Earth-based preorders have come from food suppliers, cosmetics manufacturers, and pharmaceutical corporations whose supply chains are under growing strain.
In the long run, the company wants to integrate its BioPods into a self-sustaining colony on the moon or Mars. A central connector will link chambers for plant growth to comparable pods for habitation and waste processing.