How A University Of Wyoming Student Is Helping NASA Pioneer Space Farming

Drea Hineman, a senior at the University of Wyoming, grew up gardening with her grandfather in Gillette. Now, her novel agricultural research could help revolutionize gardening in space.

Hineman is a research fellow with the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium, which sponsors education and research that can support long-term space missions. Her research is solving one of the most critical problems with "space farming."

"Space farming sounds crazy, but it's really important to understand plant behavior in reduced gravity," Hineman told Cowboy State Daily. "NASA is focused on staying in space for an extended period of time, and they want astronauts to have fresh food."

Using special systems that mimic water movement in reduced or zero gravity, Hineman has developed a system that will allo