The United Nations predicts Earth will have to feed another 2.3 billion people by 2050, mostly concentrated in urban centers far from farmland. Conventional agriculture may not be able to meet that demand, but luckily NASA has been working for decades to tackle food production both on Earth and in space. Feeding astronauts during long-term space exploration means stretching resources to grow plants in space – including minimizing water use and energy consumption and eliminating soil.
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