Astronauts on Space Station Eat Space-Grown Produce

But this is not the first time astronauts have succeeded in harvesting greens in space. Why is this such a historic salad?

NASA is taking the farm to fork concept very seriously as Expedition 44 crew members on Monday harvested and consumed romaine lettuce grown entirely in space.

And on a three-year mission to Mars, growing plants will be more than a nutritious additive. According to Astronaut Scott Kelly, the lettuce, which took one hour to harvest and prepare for consumption, tasted good and somewhat tasted like arugula.

Displaying their teamwork spirit the astronauts said they would be saving some of the leafy greens for their cosmonaut colleagues who were busy conducting a spacewalk outside the global Space Station. The vegetables – a type of red romaine lettuce dubbed “Outredgeous” – were grown on and harvested from the station’s plant growth laboratory, known as the Vegetable Production System or Veggie, as part of an effort to grow healthy, sustainable food for long trips in outer space.

“That’s awesome”, said Lindgren, giving a thumbs up to the camera. The event was simulcast on the World Wide Web, on NASA TV. Growing the purple leaves, which the crew seasoned with vinegar and oil, was a concrete step toward making NASA’s long-promised manned journey to Mars-and maybe even more permanent space colonies-a reality. The seeds arrived in space in self contained parcels and took around 33 days to develop and be harvested. A light bank of red, blue and green LEDs provides the energy source. So the astronauts will soon be observing six planting pillows of flowering zinnias, which will test their system’s ability to support pollination and use water efficiently. However, instead of water, the produce was cleansed in a citrus-based acid wash. “It also could be used by astronauts for recreational gardening activities during deep space missions”.

“The Veggie experiment is now the only experiment we are supporting which involves evaluating the effects of plant life on humans in space“, Alexandra Whitmire, behavioral health and performance research scientist for NASA’s Human Research Program, said in a statement.