Background

In a near future sci-fi setting, humanity has spread across the solar system and many humans live in space habitats. For reasons of economics and self-sufficiency, those habitats have their own hydroponic farms, to provide food and oxygen to the inhabitants. However, pressurized space farms are expensive and prone to catastrophic failure due to impacts or collisions.

Unpressurized farms growing genetically engineered vacuum-adapted plants might provide a cheaper and more robust alternative.

Several other questions have asked about the general feasibility of vacuum-adapted plants, but focused more on plants able to survive in "natural" space environments. They list several challenges faced by plants growing under vacuum conditions, some of which may be alleviated by the space farm design itself.

The question

Could such a design be feasible and would it provide any benefits compared to fully pressurized space farms? Aside from cost and robustness, maybe the plants could even provide some form of biological radiation shielding.

Which types of crops might be suitable for such an environment and what might they look like? Maybe fungi would be a better fit after all?

Background

In a near future sci-fi setting, humanity has spread across the solar system and many humans live in space habitats. For reasons of economics and self-sufficiency, those habitats have their own hydroponic farms, to provide food and oxygen to the inhabitants. However, pressurized space farms are expensive and prone to catastrophic failure due to impacts or collisions.

Unpressurized farms growing genetically engineered vacuum-adapted plants might provide a cheaper and more robust alternative. The plants would grow in some substrate supplying nutrients, water, and CO2 via their roots, while the leaves would be exposed to vacuum and sunlight for photosynthesis.

Several other questions have asked about the general feasibility of vacuum-adapted plants, but focused more on plants able to survive in "natural" space environments. They list several challenges faced by plants growing under vacuum conditions, some of which may be solved by the space farm design itself.

The question

Could such a design be feasible and would it provide any benefits compared to fully pressurized space farms? Aside from cost and robustness, maybe the plants could even provide some form of biological radiation shielding.