Ole Miss studying gardening in space | Environment

Ole Miss is on the cutting edge of research that could lead to innovations to help in future droughts.

That sort of innovation would've come in handy in the past year while the U.S. endured one of the worst droughts in its history.

The research is based on answering the question of how to grow edible and useable crops on the moon and Mars.

The research project is even on the International Space Station.

John Z. Kiss, dean of the UM Graduate School and professor of biology, is principal investigator.

The study is titled, “Novel Explorations into the Interactions between Light and Gravity Sensing in Plants.”

Part of the Fundamental Space Biology program at NASA, the program is designed to study light and gravity signaling in plants and their effects on cell growth and proliferation.

The first phase of the four-part experiment is set for launch and execution on the space station in March 2013.

The next three launches are set for later in 2013, 2014 and 2015.