The Space Horticultural Research Center, which researches technologies for producing vegetables and other foods when humans live in space, such as on the moon, was established on the Matsudo Campus of Chiba University in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, and an opening ceremony was held on the 17th.
In the Artemis program, an international lunar exploration program in which the United States and Japan participate, research is underway on how to secure fresh food on the ground, assuming that humans will not only be sent back to the moon but also will be inhabited on the moon for a long time.
Under these circumstances, Chiba University, the only national university with a Faculty of Horticulture, opened the Space Horticultural Research Center on the Matsudo Campus in January to research technology for producing food, such as vegetables and grains, on the "lunar farm" installed under the moon.
At the opening ceremony held on the 17th, President Toshinori Nakayama said, "We would like to make the center a base for space horticulture research in order to respond to manned space activities that are expected to develop in the future."
The Center will cooperate with JAXA = Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to develop varieties that can grow and harvest efficiently in the special environment of space where gravity and pressure are low, plant factories that are highly automated and remote, and recycling-type systems that make effective use of waste.
Project Professor Hideyuki Takahashi, who was appointed as the director of the center, said, "It is expected that more than 2030 people will live on the moon in the 100s, and food production on the moon and in space could be a major step in solving food and environmental issues on Earth."