Interstellar greenhouses: how a single molecule could be key to growing plants in microgravity

In the film The Martian, Matt Damon’s character survives being stranded on another planet by growing potatoes in his own faeces. And if we want to visit or maybe even settle on other planets for real, we’ll have to find a way to grow plants outside the safe environment of the Earth. On long space voyages in particular, plants will provide a vital source of food and oxygen.

That’s why Tim Peake, the UK astronaut who recently returned from the International Space Station…