The @GrowBeyondEarth maker contest — plant projects in space! @FairchildGarden @NASA #SPACEgarden #adafruit

Check out this maker contest presented by the folks over at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. They are giving away a bunch of Adafruit gift cards to the winners.

Growing Beyond Earth (GBE) is extending its reach nationwide as we call on makers across America to submit their designs for gardening systems to be used aboard spacecraft. The Growing Beyond Earth Maker Contest is a three-year multidisciplinary endeavor to leverage the ingenuity of minds throughout the nation to reinvent the systems used to grow edible plants on the International Space Station and beyond. As NASA looks toward a long-term human presence beyond low Earth orbit, they face specific science, technology, engineering, and mathematics challenges related to space crop production. Through this contest, we aim to harness the creativity and talent within our local community and throughout a national network of makerspaces to address those challenges, which include (1) how to efficiently use three-dimensional plant growing space aboard spacecraft, (2) how to maintain plants without human intervention, and (3) how to design a fully automated robotic planting and harvesting system. Entries to the contest will be assessed and judged by NASA engineers and botanists, and winning proposals will be considered for implementation on future NASA missions. Take the challenge and help NASA’s mission for long-distance space exploration with this critical component for sustaining life beyond Earth – growing edible plants.

Check out the contest overview here, and get those projects submitted!