Congratulations to the winners of our 2023–2024 Space Brain Hack!

Read about the amazing solutions young Canadians have come up with for the second edition of our Space Brain Hack. The theme this year was food in space, and we invited youth to design a system that:

creates fresh, tasty and nutritious food with the least possible waste, for several astronauts on a mission on the Moon;
should produce enough food to supplement the food already provided to the crew;
bears in mind the constraints of a lunar environment.

A committee of Canadian Space Agency (CSA) experts performed a blind review of all the submissions on the basis of the four following criteria: communication, innovation, validity and critical thinking. The committee then ranked the top submissions.

An enthusiastic young woman stands in front of a backdrop of a whirlpool containing various pictograms

Below are summaries of the finalists for each category (from grade 6 to 8 and from grade 9 to 12). Spoiler alert: these descriptions do not do justice to the incredible amount of work done by the participants. Individually or as part of a team, students found out how to adapt the production of fresh, tasty and nutritious food to the lunar environment for the benefit of the astronauts on the mission. To create their designs, students conducted research and brainstormed to validate their solutions and their feasibility. And that's not all: they thought about the best ways to adapt their space-based solutions for possible applications on Earth.

Thank you to all of the participants and educators who helped make this activity possible. Great job!

And congratulations to the students whose submissions ranked at the top of our list, especially our grand prize winners:

Gurnaaz, Rishaan, Naisha, and Taran, from Bolton, Ontario, for their food production system "Edible excellence 3000" (Grade 6)
Anirudh, Agastya, Aankit, and Hetav, from Brampton, Ontario, for their "TerraStack" food production system (Grade 11);

The three finalists in each category will participate in a virtual working session with CSA experts. During the session, they will present their solution to the experts and the other winners and receive feedback.

We can't wait to see what young Canadians will imagine for the next Space Brain Hack! Details and the theme will be announced in the fall. Stay tuned!

Note: Drawings appear in the language in which they were submitted.

Grades 6–8

First place: Edible Excellence 3000

Gurnaaz, Rishaan, Naisha and Taran
Grade 6
Bolton, Ontario

The diagram shows an inside view of the Edible Excellence 3000 food production system

Designed to provide a varied selection of foods to the astronauts on the Artemis mission, Edible Excellence 3000 is a complex food production system. When the cultivated edible plants reach maturity – using a system designed to enable agriculture in space – robots will deposit them into a tube. They will then be sent through a pipe and exit, as food, at a preparation station to be cooked by robots. Once the food has been cooked, the meal will be sent to another station, and the astronaut who ordered their meal from the menu will just have to open the door and dig in!

Second place: The Life Dome

Aya, Ellie, Alycia and Sarah
Grade 8
Chambly High School
Chambly, Quebec

Drawing of the prototype presenting a top view and side view of the dome

This hydroponic greenhouse, which uses 90% less water than an ordinary planting system, is primarily for growing lettuces and leeks, which are vegetables that grow quickly and easily. The prototype would be installed inside the base so that astronauts won't have to wear their suits to access the planting area. Solar panels will supply the greenhouse with electricity, and the type of light could be changed for lighting or heating purposes. The plants would be fed by a water reservoir.

Third place: The Feels Like Home System (The FLHS)

Suvreen, Yash, Riya and Mehak
Grade 6
Macville Public School, Peel District School Board
Bolton, Ontario

Diagram of the System That Makes You Feel at Home that provides water and a source of healthy food

The System That Makes You Feel at Home is designed for space and land-based environments. The system is made of plastic and combines fish farming and semi-automated hydroponics to feed the plants. Since the fish urine and the water contain the minerals needed to grow plants, an aquarium containing small tilapia would have two functions: providing a source of food and a source of light. The astronauts will have to pour water and fertilizer into a bucket that will feed the roots of the plants via a water pump. The system is modular and customizable, which will allow astronauts to choose plots and features that meet their needs and to replace them on each mission.

Aquaponics in Space

Eniya
Grade 6
Homeschool
Milton, Ontario

This design uses aquaponics – making it possible to grow plants and farm fish at the same time – with a system connected to the Internet of Things to grow and monitor the plants. Aquaponics is a natural process that mimics bodies of water and needs side heating to maintain water temperature between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius. The energy needed to power the system would be provided by solar panels installed on the Moon. Using the system, astronauts could grow salad, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, carrots, green onions, beans, peas, broccoli and even cauliflower!

Tomato Siphon

Mohammed, Vaughn and Kareem
Grade 6
Lambeth Public School
London, Ontario

Picture of the prototype showing the different parts of the system

This team has proposed a five-shelf autonomous hydroponic system to grow duckweed and tomatoes. The farming system uses horizontal and vertical plastic columns to support its five levels, each containing six netting baskets that let the plants' roots grow freely. There are two systems, one of which controls heat, water and lighting, and another that regulates humidity and the level of carbon dioxide in the air. As well, all internal components of the hydroponic system are 3D printable, allowing the unit to be expanded or damaged parts to be easily replaced.

Grades 9-12

First place: The TerraStack Food Production System

Anirudh, Agastya, Aankit and Hetav
Grade 11
Turner Fenton High School
Brampton, Ontario

Picture showing the interior and exterior of the TerraStack Food Production System

The TerraStack modular ecosystem, which makes it possible to grow up to five groups of different crops, would create nearly autonomous food production for the long-term Artemis and Gateway lunar space station missions. Its key components are a water recycling system, customizable environmental settings, a natural fertilizer system and a system for extracting water from lunar soil in order to maximize the use of this rare resource on the Moon. As well, to speed up plant growth, an autonomous vehicle equipped with artificial intelligence would be able to produce fertilizer by collecting ammonia and carbon dioxide from the Moon's atmosphere and making them react in an environmentally controlled compartment.

Second place: The Lunar Green Vegetation System

Maithili, Tiffany and Nabira
Grade 10
White Oaks Secondary School
Oakville, Ontario

Diagrams of a vertical crop system illuminated by LEDs and its water distribution system

Using this vertical food production system, astronauts could grow fully edible plants, including perennials, which require fewer resources than annuals, and plants that do not require much light (in order to conserve energy). Solar panels installed on the surface would power highly energy-efficient blue and red LEDs, while solar batteries would store the energy to provide lighting during the lunar nights. CO₂ levels would be maintained by adding garbage created by astronauts to composting machines, which would transform the garbage into fertilizer that is added to the soil on a regular basis. Micro-organisms like bacteria and nitrogen-fixing mushrooms would be added to the soil to decompose the organic plant matter into ammonium, which would then be converted into nitrates for the plants.

Third place: Food Production Module

Matthew, Marko, Daria, Izabelle and Ben
Grades 11 and 12
Stephen Lewis Secondary School
Vaughan, Ontario

Drawing of a dome-shaped space farming module

This space farm module has a protective dome consisting of an exterior metal envelope and an interior layer of water, making up an aquatic ecosystem that protects the interior from radiation. Inside the module, a system of vertical shelves would hold the hydroponic crops illuminated by artificial lighting. The nutrient-rich water of the aquatic ecosystem would be connected to the hydroponic compartments where the plants are grown. As long as the fish are fed, the system will remain autonomous and provide the astronauts with a varied diet.

Compact Modular Farming Warehouse

Ben, Daniel, Andy, Yusef and Peter
Grades 9, 11 and 12
Stephen Lewis Secondary School
Vaughan, Ontario

Diagram of how the agricultural warehouse and plant boxes work

This automated warehouse would be built underground to mitigate exposure to radiation. The main idea consists of incorporating individual plant boxes into a large wall storage system. Robots would store plant boxes in, and retrieve them from, the space-saving wall storage system. The size of the room can vary, depending on requirements, as the system can contain a large number of boxes.

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Date modified:: 2024-05-24

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