University of Arizona research could help advance technology for upcoming NASA Artemis missions
Inside the Lunar-Mars Greenhouse at the University of Arizona's Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC), in Tucson, AZ.
Madison Farwell
From the Sonoran Desert to the lunar surface, the challenge is the same: how to sustain life where resources are limited. NASA’s Artemis II mission is underway, and researchers at the University of Arizona are continuing to develop greenhouse systems designed to produce food, oxygen and water beyond Earth.
“The Artemis II rocket just launched, and then Artemis III will hopefully bring humans back again to the moon. But when you go to the moon, you need to bring life to those places which doesn’t exist. That's where the bioregenerative life support systems come in, so that has been our emphasis in our Space Agriculture research program,” said Murat Kacira, director of the University of Arizona's Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (UA-CEAC).
The Lunar-Mars Greenhouse Project is part of the university’s broader space agriculture and bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS) research at CEAC in collaboration with Sadler Machine Company. The dedicated lab supporting the effort has been innovating BLSS concepts since 2004.
Between 2008 and 2018, the program received three rounds of NASA funding to develop large scale greenhouse modules tailored for lunar and Martian conditions.
Modular design and global collaboration
Dwarf tomato plants within the modularized Lunar-Mars Greenhouse at CEAC.
Madison Farwell
Kacira explained that the research within this project has been evolving, particularly with systems-level optimization that prioritizes scalability and operational resilience.
In recent phases, the design emphasis has shifted toward compact, modular systems that enhance redundancy, fault tolerance and resource-use efficiency. These are key performance criteria for BLSS operating in constrained, remote environments like space habitats.
The current system units are engineered for one person to operate and handle, making them "portable, lightweight and redundant,” according to Kacira.
This innovative research extends beyond Tucson through international collaboration.
“This facility is very unique and the only one of its kind in higher institution systems in the United States. We have international collaborators like Thales Alenia Space, a company that builds close to 50% of the current International Space Station,” said Kacira.
He noted that much of the collaboration focuses on shared expertise rather than a direct funding partnership.
The center has also been collaborating with University of Naples-Federico II, German Space Institute, Italian National Research Council and SyNRGE LLC.
Preparing for the next phase
As NASA's Artemis program develops, the work in Tucson continues to evolve. After two decades of development, the Lunar-Mars Greenhouse lab is now preparing for relocation to the Campus Agricultural Center. With this relocation, Kacira expressed excitement for the next phases of the Lunar-Mars Greenhouse project to continue innovating and supporting space agriculture and BLSS research.
Even amid transition, the goal remains: improving efficiency, strengthening system reliability and advancing technologies that can operate in resource-constrained environments.
As space exploration continues to push the boundaries of what we know, and with more Artemis missions on the horizon, this research underway in Tucson may tie directly to future efforts to sustain astronauts on the moon and beyond.