FISH FARMING ON THE MOON IS RECOMMENDED BY SCIENTISTS

 

To raise fish in places where no one has ever farmed fish before.

The 200 seabass eggs had settled into their module and were ready to go. The ground crew had meticulously counted the eggs, examined each one for an embryo, and sealed them securely inside a curved dish filled to the brim with seawater.

The countdown begins, followed by ignition! The precious eggs were subjected to a riotous shaking for two minutes as the rocket's engines ignited, followed by another eight minutes of increased juddering as they soared to the heavens. These embryonic fish were on their way to a low-Earth-orbiting destination. The moon is the next destination.

They haven't left yet, to be sure. However, researchers in France discovered that the eggs survived the ordeal well after a recent simulation designed to re-create the extreme shaking of a typical takeoff. It's a significant development in the Lunar Hatch project, which seeks to see whether astronauts can successfully rear fish on a potential moon base.

 

Finally, Cyrille Przybyla, an aquaculture researcher who led the study, hopes to design a lunar fish farm that uses water already on the moon to help feed inhabitants of the European Space Agency's potential Moon Village (ESA). The Lunar Hatch project is one of about 300 that the ESA is currently evaluating, and it may or may not be chosen for the final flight. Przybyla, on the other hand, hopes to provide new, appetizing, protein-rich food to lunar dwellers rather than freeze-dried grub.

Since eggs and embryos are very solid, I proposed sending eggs rather than fish, says Przybyla.

So far, his studies indicate that he is right. However, according to his team's findings, not all fish are similarly space worthy.

Przybyla and his collaborators whittled down a list of hundreds of organisms to only a handful—those with low oxygen requirements, low carbon dioxide output, a fast hatching period, and resistance to charged particles, because life forms are exposed to radiation during space travel. They then decided to look into the quality of eggs provided by two different species of fish: European seabass and meagre.

The eggs were shaken in beakers using an orbital shaker, which is a popular piece of laboratory equipment. This was their first exam, which they passed. Then, using a different system that shook them in a specific sequence designed to mimic the launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket, they were subjected to even stronger vibrations. According to the researchers, no spaceflight could ever cause such severe juddering.

After shaking, 76 percent of the seabass eggs hatched, which was close to the 82 percent hatch rate of the unshaken control samples. In comparison to seabass, meager eggs performed much better. In comparison to 92 percent of the control sample, 95 percent of the shaken eggs hatched.

Przybyla exclaims, "It was absolutely insane." These eggs were in a harsh climate.

 

Przybyla believes that fish eggs are inherently space-ready because they have evolved to withstand the adversities of marine environments, such as heavy winds, waves, and collisions with hard surfaces.

 

 

 

Apart from the nutritional benefits of moon-farmed fish fillets, Przybyla believes there would be additional advantages for astronauts who might one day be rearing animals in space.

It's best to have a reminder of Earth—you have a lawn, you have a fish tank, he says—from a psychological standpoint.

Luke Roberson, a researcher at NASA, agrees. He claims that astronauts on the International Space Station spend a lot of time tending to and visiting the plants they grow on board.

When you add a pet fish or invertebrate to the mix, you get a whole new level of psychological value. According to Roberson, this makes it sound more human.

Future space exploration programs would include the creation of self-contained and self-sustaining systems for food production beyond Earth, he adds. Przybyla's research, he says, is a fantastic first step toward demonstrating that aquaculture can be a viable part of that future.

Roberson also mentions that seabass is a good option because it can tolerate a wide range of salinity levels. Despite the moon's small water supply, this will make it easier to accommodate them. He also mentions that the seabass could be fed wastewater from other moon base systems that manufacture hydrogen-based rocket fuel using water from the lunar atmosphere.