Five universities in Australia have worked with the US space agency NASA, to develop ideas for how to feed astronauts in space. Over the next 20 years, NASA is planning to send humans to the Moon and Mars. It wants to set up a space station for years on the Moon, which would mean having to keep astronauts happy with healthy and delicious meals for long periods.
For now, most space food is pre-made like ready meals. Scientists have tried many ways to make it last longer. However, scientists want astronauts to be able to grow fresh food in space, so they can store more kinds of food and have a healthier diet. It could also stop astronauts from getting bored with their diet. Getting bored is a problem because if they can't face their meals, they might end up eating less.
A team at Australia's University of Melbourne is using robots to grow food. These "farmbots"can plant seeds, keep the plants watered as they grow and harvest them when they are ready to eat. The farmbots can also take a look at temperature and growth. The farmbots have "E-noses", which can quickly know the smells given off by the plants. Used with sensors（传感器） in the soil, the technology can work out what the plants need. So far, leafy greens like basil, kale and lettuce have been the easiest vegetables to grow.
The team have also been testing the effect the foods might have on humans in space, where there's little or no gravity（引力）. As they eat in this position, people's physical and emotional results are recorded.
The scientists want to make the plant grow automatically（自动化）on space tasks. Professor Sigfredo Fuentes told the newspaper that it would be like having "a smart fridge in space"where everything,from food to medicines,can be created from plants when needed.
① plant seeds ② water the plants ③ cook the plants ④ harvest the plants
