NASA Astronauts Grow Vegetables in Space for First Time

Astronauts Scott Kelly, Kjell Lindgren, and Kimiya Yui all munched on red romaine lettuce this afternoon, except unlike your sad desk salad, this produce was grown on the worldwide Space Station.

“There is evidence that supports fresh foods, such as tomatoes, blueberries and red lettuce are a good source of antioxidants”. A second lot of Veg-01 plant pillows were activated by Kelly on July 8, which after growing for 33 days were harvested.

Growing and eating vegetables in space is not only important for the taste buds of astronauts but also because it allows for longer space travel and is a necessary step for the possibility of one day living on Mars – helping determine what will be growing on the Red Planet and how it will be done.

The anticipation is high.

Using LED lights to grow plants was an idea that originated with NASA as far back as the late 1990s, according to Dr. Ray Wheeler, lead for Advanced Life Support activities in the Exploration Research and Technology Programs Office at Kennedy.

Members of Expedition 44 were able to harvest a crop of “Outredgeous” red romaine lettuce on Monday from the Veggie plant growth system on the orbiting laboratory.

Harvest time occurred after 33 days of growth; the plants were brought back to Earth in October 2014 and were analyzed in Florida for food safety by NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

While some fresh foods are already on the menu at the worldwide Space Station, a NASA scientist says crew members must wait for shipments of foods like apples and carrots, and then consume it quickly.

NASA has been studying how vegetables grow in space and their nutritional value since May 2014. Then, they’ll eat half of the lettuce, and set aside the other half to be package and frozen on the station until it can be returned to Earth for scientific analysis.

“As NASA moves toward long-duration exploration missions farther into the solar system, Veggie will be a resource for crew food growth and consumption”, explained NASA, in a statement.