NASA Uses Red Light Therapy To Boost Plant Growt
November 1, 2024
Why Use LED Lights
NASA has some of the best scientists and engineers in the world.
In the next section, we’ll look at how a NASA-funded research company realized that red light therapy had healing properties and how it became popular as a major therapy.
NASA Uses Red Light Therapy to Boost Plant Growth
In 1993, Quantum Devices, INC. received a grant from NASA to study the use of red light therapy to stimulate plant growth. NASA was interested in finding ways to provide well-bing food to astronauts in orbit. If they didn’t, they would be stuck with prepackaged foods that had to be sent to orbit.
In NASA’s words, the research “showed that red LED wavelengths can boost cellular energy metabolism, thereby promoting plant growth and photosynthesis.”
During the study, the researchers discovered that their hands healed faster when exposed to red light while working in the garden. They soon realized that red light therapy could be used not only to make plants grow faster, but also to treat astronauts.
They credited Dr. Ray Bula with having the insight to try this experiment, despite initial skepticism about the idea’s merit. Credit also goes to Ronald W. Ignatius, who was then the CEO of Quantum Devices, INC. and continued to support product research that eventually led to red light therapy panels being used by NASA and the military.
Subsequent research soon found that red light therapy did have healing properties. The Marshall Space Flight Center further funded the development of red light therapy panels that could be used to stimulate plant growth. In the meantime, they also studied red and near-infrared wavelengths of light, speculating that these wavelengths could stimulate human cell growth.
As NASA puts it, "In 1989, Ignatius founded QDI Corporation to bring salt-grain-sized LEDs to market, and in October 1995, the light source first flew aboard the space shuttle on the second U.S. microgravity laboratory, Skylab mission (STS-73, Columbia). "
We provide more information in our literature review, which covers more details on red light therapy discovered during this research project.
QDI went on to win a NASA contract to develop red light panels for the Department of Defense in a project called WARP 10 to speed up the recovery of injured soldiers. The panels were also used on submarines to speed up the recovery of injured sailors.
Red Light Therapy for Consumer Use
It soon became apparent that there were benefits to using the panels in the wider consumer market.
friend was the first company to introduce consumer-grade RLT panels, and their products are still the best in class today.
F-Series RLT panels are all equipped with the following wavelengths:
610nm and 630nm NIR light
810nm, 830nm, 850nm and NIR+ light
This FDA-approved therapy has many benefits, including:
Faster healing
Faster recovery after exercise and injury
Well-Bing looking skin
Reduces inflammation
Many other benefits
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