Kajsa Rylander-Bellet, 23 April, 2024 | Lauren Fell, Space Entrepreneur and QUT Phd Candidate in Quantum Cognition
Meet Lauren Fell, Space Entrepreneur and QUT Phd Candidate in Quantum Cognition
As our planet grapples with the urgent need for more sustainable solutions, the 'Lunaria One' project takes on a crucial role. With the climate constantly evolving and its impact on Earth and its inhabitants becoming more pronounced, the question arises: can planting a seed on the moon contribute to developing these solutions?
Lauren Fell, a QUT research student in the QUT School of Information Systems, aims to answer these questions with the start-up experiment called 'Lunaria One'. Lauren is leading the project in collaboration with researchers at QUT, RMIT, ANU, and SpaceIL, whose spacecraft Beresheet 2 will carry Lunaria One's plant capsule to the moon. In 2026, the team will plant selected seeds and resurrection plants on the lunar surface to show how germination and growth are possible on the moon.
Lauren has been awarded multiple awards for her work in NASA design challenges. She got first place for designing an autonomous inflatable crane for moving cargo on the moon and creating a storyboard to explain RFID tagging in space. Some of these designs and concepts are being tested for space exploration and sample collection.
Ms Fell said the payload proposed by Lunaria One would be the first in a series of experiments to investigate if plants could survive and thrive on the lunar surface.
"We have an expert team of biologists, engineers, and educators, and we invite citizen scientists from around the world to participate in solving this project's unique challenges," Lauren said.
"Our planet is facing extreme conditions from climate change, which present challenges in managing future food security. To prosper, we need to be creative and pioneering in how we propagate plants."
Space provides a unique opportunity as a testing ground for extreme environments and how plants will survive these conditions. The potential benefits of growing plants on the moon are immense, offering us hope in developing more sustainable solutions on Earth that can help us better plan for our future.
In late 2023, Lauren and her team completed a 2-week lunar mission at the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation Centre on Mauna Loa. During this mission, they tested various aspects of the project, from plant growth in a simulated lunar environment to the psychological effects of living in isolation.
The simulation centre is located atop a volcano, providing participants with a realistic lunar environment to explore. The off-Earth simulated habitat consists of an enclosed 366 sqm dome with shared living spaces, bathrooms, kitchen, laboratory, simulated airlock, and engineering bay. Surrounded by volcanic material and without people, it feels like you are on another planet.
As an extension of her PhD research in quantum models of trust, Lauren used her time at the simulation centre to holistically explore trust, asking questions like, how do you trust yourself in these extreme situations?
When Lauren isn't busy planning moon missions or participating in simulations on top of a volcano, she is involved in projects using virtual reality (VR) for people with cognitive impairment. She is also teaching in the QUT Master of Information Technology, where she aims to provide students with a more cognition-centric approach to understanding why and how we use technology.