From cannabis to cantaloupe, hydroponic growers face unique challenges that traditional farmers don’t. If you’re unfamiliar with hydroponics, it’s a method of growing crops without soil or natural sunlight. Plants grow in trays or cups suspended over a water-based nutrient solution, not dirt. The roots grow into the water to absorb oxygen and nutrients. Hydroponics is a sustainable method of growing food indoors, such as on rooftops, basements, converted buildings, or outdoors in covered greenhouses. It allows growers to control the entire ecosystem, including temperature, nutrients, pH, and light. Hydroponics works in outer space too. The International Space Station crew […]
Satellite Space Simulation with Pressure Vessel Cooling
“Space… the final frontier.” Every Star Trek fan knows the starting monologue to the show and the movies. However, the “final frontier” of the near-earth orbit has become a satellite parking lot, crowded with over 6,540 satellites of all sizes. And that’s just the beginning. SpaceX’s Starlink project plans to add 7,518 more satellites. They hold the record of sending up 143 satellites in one flight in January 2021. Each satellite weighs 590 pounds and costs $250,000. Building a satellite can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Launching one can cost from $20 million to $200 million depending on the […]
