Episode 161 – Space Crop Production – Supporting Long Duration Space Missions

The podcast by project managers for project managers. Lessons learned from a space crop production project to develop sustainable fresh food systems, in support of long duration space missions beyond low Earth orbit. We’re exploring the world of astrobotany and the challenges of this unconventional project.



Table of Contents



02:38 … Meet Ralph05:05 … Project Management Role at NASA08:30 … Space Crop Production09:44 … Project Stakeholders11:35 … Tailoring the Pitch12:39 … Growing Plants in Space16:46 … Plant Growth Substrate19:16 … Regolith23:15 … Types of Plant Crops for Space27:42 … Kevin and Kyle29:09 … Understanding Both Sides of the Project33:34 … Further Testing36:15 … Project Simulation Funding37:59 … Making the Most of Opportunities40:51 … PM Lessons Learned43:26 … Find out More44:34 … Closing



RALPH FRITSCHE: I think it’s an advantage not having too much of a foothold in any camp because what it does is you bring a bias with you that you have to work through.  Not having that bias gives you the ability to understand the passions that each side brings to the table and to try to balance those.  Because personalities are such that I might have an engineer who’s very knowledgeable and demonstrative, and they may override the plant scientist person.  And you have to be able to see that dynamic if it happens and try to balance that out.  So it’s really almost acting like an orchestra leader trying to understand when the right time to engage one group versus another.



WENDY GROUNDS:  Hello, and welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  Thank you for joining us today.  This is where we interview top experts and project managers to get their unique perspectives.  My name is Wendy Grounds, and joining me is Bill Yates, who likes to dig deep into complex issues that project managers face today.  If you like what you hear, we’d love to hear from you.  You can leave us a comment on our website, Velociteach.com, on social media, or whichever podcast listening app you use.



Our guest today is Ralph Fritsche.  He is with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which we commonly call NASA; and he’s a space crop production and exploration food systems project manager.  And he’s leading the efforts to develop sustainable and reliable fresh food systems in support of long-duration space missions beyond low Earth orbit.



BILL YATES:  This is so fascinating.  This conversation with Ralph is just something I’ve been looking forward to because, I mean, Wendy, you and I, neither one of us are really green thumbs.  We can kill stuff.



WENDY GROUNDS:  No, no, I’m really bad.  I’ve been trying so hard.



BILL YATES:  Yeah.  And here we’re going to talk with Ralph about growing stuff in space.  And it has to be edible, and it has to be the ultimate in terms of nutritious and tasty and sustainable and zero waste.  It’s like, ah, what a problem to solve, and what an interesting project to address.



WENDY GROUNDS:  It’s such an interesting project because we spoke to Philippe Schoonejans a few months ago, and he was telling us it can take over eight months to get to Mars.  So it’s not like you can stop midway and resupply and get your fruit and veggies.  So Ralph’s team is trying to develop sustainable fresh food systems for these astronauts.



BILL YATES:  Yeah.  And Ralph’s had a 40-year career with NASA.  He’s done a little bit of everything, and he mentions a few of those in our conversation.  But talking about this latest project challenge for him is just mind-blowing.



Meet Ralph



WENDY GROUNDS:  Hi, Ralph.  Welcome to Manage This.  We’re so glad you’re joining us.



RALPH FRITSCHE:  Thank you very much.  Pleasure to be here.



WENDY GROUNDS:  Before we get talking about astrobotany, and I’m so geeked out about that, I want to find out a little bit about you.  Can you tell us about your career path?  Have you always been interested in space?



RALPH FRITSCHE:  So,