F4-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 9,1993 UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) Tomorrow’s astronauts will add two unusual descriptions to their job titles: farmer and vege tarian. NASA’s Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) project is the theme of the Penn State National Space Grant Col lege booth at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. Jan. 9-14. For long-term survival in space, NASA astronauts will be required to grow their own food. They will plant, harvest, and consume a range of redesigned vegetables and legumes specially developed to grow fast in confined areas and provide them with complete die tary protein to be totally edible right down to the hulls and stems. On display will be the progress of CELSS, one of NASA’s quieter efforts, in supplying each astro naut via plants with the daily hu man essential of about one pound of food, three-quarters of a gallon of recycled water, and 800 liters of oxygen all in a closed environ ment where everything must be recycled. Today’s space travel is limited by the weight of carrying such supplies, as well as the plant and human wastes that accumulate. But with extended stays on the moon or a three-year trip to Mars on the horizon, carrying such vast amounts of food and waste are im possible. Enter the CELSS proj ect. CELSS use both chemical and biological processes to solve not only food but oxygen and water requirements to support human life in space. Plants and algae will Discover AMERICAS AGGRESSOR Die exka cut variety Aggressor withstands aggressive cutting, which is exactly what alfalfa growers pushing their varieties to the limit require for more yield and quality. A research study started in 1989 measured variety persistence under aggressive cutting schedules. Each variety was cut five times per year in this North Central study. Aggressor came out on topi Percent stand survival AGGRESSOR 60% FUNKS 2841 40% PIONEER BRAND 5384 35% VERNAL 35% FORTRESS 15% Frequent cutting requires high disease and Insect resistance— Aggressor delivers: • HR Phytophthora • HR Fusarium wilt • HR Bacterial wilt • HR Anthracnose • R Verticillium wilt • R Leafhopper yellowing Plus Aggressor fights Aphanomcyes found where Phytophthora root rot and Pythium 'damping off occur. P. L ROHRER & PRO.. INC. Smoketown, PA Growing Food On The Trip To Space be used for water purficalion and oxygen release as well as for food. NASA researchers arc adapting rice, cow peas, brassica, carrots, and lettuce for astronaut farming projects in space. The goal? To produce nutritious and delicious foods that can be eaten in their en tirety, producing no garbage. Cow peas, for instance, can be eaten as a vegetable in the baby pod form, as a salad made from its leaves, as a legume using the ma ture peas, and to finish it off, re maining stems and roots can be combined with rice to produce a highly nutritious complete protein pasta. Result? No waste, no gar bage, released oxygen, and puri fied recycled water. Astronauts’ vegetarian diet will also include genetically altered rice “beefed up” by adding two es sential amino acids to produce a whole protein. The implications are clear for space ship Earth; less than an acre of arable land is currently avail able to feed each person on Earth, plus another acre available for additional food production through grazing. But as the world’s population doubles in the next forty years, arable land will remain constant. Ever more recycling of re sources will be necessary, includ ing miniaturization of plants that have faster growing seasons on smaller amounts of ground while providing more complete protein exactly what CELSS is de veloping. Genetically altered rice is ex pected to help solve lingering nu trition problems for the 40 percent of the Earth’s population whose PH. 717-299-2571 diet is based on rice. Futurists predict that homes one day will contain a refrigerator sized growing chamber or “salad machine” adapted from space travel to provide home grown let tuce, carrots, and other vegetables, pesticide-free. “NASA must reach for the stars and bring back to America dual use technology to improve life on Earth,” said Daniel Goldin, HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Farm safety specialists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences are asking farmers to consider the potential for serious accidents involving power takeoff (PTO) drivelines. In 1992, one person died and two others were seriously injured in PTO accidents in Pennsylvania. Farmers can leant more about PTOs and other farm safety topics by visiting the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences exhibit at the 1993 Pennsylvania Farm Show, January 9-14 in Harrisburg. The exhibit will feature Penn State’s efforts to promote agricul tural safety and health, including a recently developed PTO accident simulator. PTO drivelines enable farmers to use their tractor’s engine to drive other equipment. But arms and legs, loose clothing, jewelry or hair can catch in the driveline, instantly reeling the victim into fggas- Agriculture - Residential - Commercial • Buildings • Basement • Floors • Retaining Walls • Footer • SCS Approved Manure Storage Pits • All Types Of Flat Work Invest In Concrete, Quality Work Thai WHI Last A Ltfefline call for Free estimates AND SEE HOW AFFORDABLE CONCRETE WALLS CAN BE PRECISE NASA’s top administrator. The Penn State National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, a NASA-funded educa tional program under its director Dr. Sylvia Stein, is part of the Pennsylvania Space Grant Con sortium, an eight-institution coali tion dedicated to improving sci ence and technology education at all levels from elementary to grad- Exhibit To Highlight Ag Safety, Health the rapidly spinning mechanism. Victims have included female far mers whose hair became entangled in spinning PTO shafts, causing serious scalp injuries. “Imagine being pulled into a metal shaft that spins between 540 and 1,000 times per minute,” said Dr. Dennis Murphy, professor of agricultural engineering. “In the blink of an eye, you could lose your arms, your legs or your life.” The PTO accident simulator safely shows participants the speed of PTO accidents. “The simulator lets visitors experience firsthand just how dangerous farm tractor and equipment power takeoff shafts can be,” said Murphy. The computer-driven simulator tests how quickly participants could pull away from the driveline in an accident. The simulator ran domly selects the timing of the “accident” so the person isn’t expecting it. ‘This approximates the surprise present in a real-life situation,” Murphy said. After the “accident,” the simu lator displays the shaft’s speed SCS Approved Manure Storage Facility CONCRETE WALLS, INC. 601 Overly Grove Road, New Holland. PA 17557 uatc school. For more information about the CELSS project, see Farm Show booth 538 (main floor) or contact the Penn Stale National Space Grant College at 101 S. Frear, University Park, PA 16802-1680, (814) 863-7688. Contact Dr. Hec tor Flores, professor of plant pa thology, College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn Stale, (814) 865-2955. and horsepower as well as the per son’s reaction time. Using these factors, the simulator calculates how far the victim would have been wrapped around the driveline in a real accident. “It’s impossible to react quickly enough to avoid harm,” Murphy said. “Some people react extreme ly quickly, but all would be wrapped between one to three feet around a real PTO shaft.” Murphy urges farmers who work around PTO’s to observe basic safety rules. “Make sure that all PTO shields are in place and working properly, and replace defective parts,” he said. “Keep loose clothing, long hair and untied shoe strings at a safe dis tance from an operating PTO.” The 1993 Farm Show will open to the public on Saturday, January 9, and close on Thursday, January 14. Hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday; and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday. Parking is $2 and admission is free. 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