Astronauts grow lettuce in space
In space, food is freeze-dried, prepackaged, and frankly not always very tasty.
Known as Veg-01, the plant experiment is being used to analyze the capability and in-orbit performance of the plant growth facility aboard the orbiting space lab; taking into account its rooting “pillows” in which the seeds of the vegetables are contained.
The collapsible and expandable Veggie unit features a flat panel light bank that includes red, blue and green LEDs for plant growth and crew observation.
Scott Kelly planted the romaine on July 8th, reported by NASA, and the plants were harvested 33 days later after consistent watering.
They will eat half of the bounty, and the rest will be returned to Earth for testing. Green LEDs don’t emit as much light, but NASA says they’re included so that the lettuce looks like lettuce instead of “weird purple plants”. That being said, this experiment to grow vegetables in space is not only to provide nourishment, but could also have an impact on the mental state and mood of astronauts.
According to a Monday article in Popular Science, a space first was accomplished onboard the worldwide Space Station. Seeds are shipped into space in “pillows” that are activated in space to start the growing process.
“That’s awesome, tastes good”, astronaut Kjell Lindgren told Nasa – though given the effort it took to produce the food, saying anything else would arguably have been a little rude. The plants were then harvested and taken to Earth in October for food safety analysis.
“Having the ability for us to grown our own food is a big step in that direction”, said Steve Kelly one of the astronauts aboard the ISS in reference to future missions to Mars.
The farther and longer humans go away from Earth, the greater the need to be able to grow plants for food, atmosphere recycling and psychological benefits. The lettuce leaves will be cleaned with sanitizing wipes containing citric acid before they are eaten.
I think that microgravity gardenning will become important elements of any future long-term space travel, said Gioia Massa, a scientist at the US space agency who is working on this research at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.