Made in space
How answers to some of agriculture's biggest questions could be found beyond Earth
Why are companies blasting bottles of alcohol and crops into space? Are they just publicity stunts, or are there some serious scientific discoveries to be made?
We explore the potential of space when it comes to producing food and drink - not for astronauts or the first settlers on Mars, but by developing crops that could be more productive and more resistant to climate change here on Earth.
A NASA scientist tells Graihagh Jackson how microgravity on the International Space Station could be the key to unlocking the potential of many Earth crops, and a serial entrepreneur explains why he’s investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the idea in a bid to save Bordeaux wine.
Plus, we find out how space science has already helped us grow indoor crops and develop more efficient and environmentally friendly fertilisers.
(Picture: Planet Earth, composed by NASA images. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)
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Broadcasts
- Thu 27 Feb 202002:32GMTBBC World Service West and Central Africa
- Thu 27 Feb 202003:32GMTBBC World Service Europe and the Middle East
- Thu 27 Feb 202004:32GMTBBC World Service Online & UK DAB/Freeview only
- Thu 27 Feb 202005:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia, Americas and the Caribbean, South Asia & East Asia only
- Thu 27 Feb 202011:32GMTBBC World Service except West and Central Africa
- Thu 27 Feb 202018:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
- Thu 27 Feb 202021:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Thu 27 Feb 202023:32GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Sun 1 Mar 202008:32GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
Food Chain highlights
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The Food Chain
Examining what it takes to put food on your plate
