D2.4 Plant Analysis Report

The purpose of this work package is the development and application of a methodology to select
plants for cultivation at the Neumayer III Antarctic station and on-board the ISS aimed at enhancing
the psychological well-being of expeditioners and astronauts by providing them with fresh food supplements in the form of fruits, herbs and/or vegetables. The methodology takes (human) quality,
physical and plant aspects into account. The methodology includes a framework for the selection
process, a list of relevant criteria based on plant characteristics, engineering constraints and human
nutrition and psychology. It entails scoring systems to assess these criteria for each plant including
their weighting factors to rank the choices.
A methodology is preferred over a simple list of plants, because it can be adapted later on. It allows
plants that were not originally included in the analysis to be evaluated. This does not only mean that
new species can be evaluated but also that new cultivars, for example shorter tomato plants, can be
selected or even bred for. It is of great importance that the methodology is flexible so that it can be
adjusted when situations change. It must be flexible because there will likely be changes in conditions before and during the implementation of the plant production facilities on-board the ISS and on
future space missions.