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First space-grown vegetables on the menu

NASA

NASA

NASA astronauts are preparing to eat the first crop of fresh food grown in space – red romaine lettuce.

International Space Station (ISS) crew members will sample the “Outredgeous” lettuce grown as part of NASA’s plant experiment Veg-01 in the Veggie plant growth system.

Giving new meaning to “clean eating”, astronauts must first clean the leafy greens with citric acid-based, food-safe sanitising wipes before tucking in.

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But only half the space harvest will be eaten, with the remainder to be packaged and frozen before being returned to Earth for scientific analysis.

Veg-01 forms a critical part of NASA’s Journey to Mars, enabling crew to grow and eat their own food on long-duration exploration missions.

Green-thumbed astronauts may also use Veggie for recreational gardening during deep space missions, according to NASA.

The lettuce was grown using rooting “pillows”, containing seeds – which are activated, watered and cared for by astronauts.

The first pillows were tended to by Expedition 39 flight engineer Steve Swanson in 2014 and grew for 33 days before it was harvested and returned to Earth for food safety analysis.

Astronaut Scott Kelly activated the second Veg-01 plant pillows on July 8 and they also grew for 33 days before being harvested.

The plants are housed in a collapsible and expandable Veggie unit, featuring a flat panel light bank of red, blue and green LEDs for plant growth and observation.

Until now, ISS astronauts were only able to access a limited supply of fruit and vegetables, NASA Veggie scientist Dr Gioia Massa said.

“The crew does get some fresh fruits or vegetables, such as carrots or apples, when a supply ship arrives at the space station,” Dr Massa said.

“But the quantity is limited and must be consumed quickly.”

NASA

Astronauts are ready to sample their harvest of red romaine lettuce grown in the Veggie plant growth system. Photo: NASA

Gardening to improve astronauts’ moods

Vegetables harvested from Veg-01 are expected to provide both nutritional and psychological benefits for astronauts, according to the head of Advanced Life Support activities in the Exploration Research and Technology Programs Office Dr Ray Wheeler, who worked with engineers and collaborators to help develop the unit.

“Having fresh food like these available in space could have a positive impact on people’s moods and also could provide some protection against radiation in space,” Dr Wheeler said.

NASA

An artist’s impression of NASA’s plans to grow fresh food in spacecrafts and on other planets. Photo: NASA

NASA Behavioural Health and Performance Research scientist Alexandra Whitmire said the psychological effects of plant life on humans in space would be evaluated.

“Future spaceflight missions could involve four to six crew members living in a confined space for an extended period of time, with limited communication,” Ms Whitmire said.

“It will be important to provide training that will be effective and equip the crew with adequate countermeasures during their mission.”

Ms Massa said having something green and growing – a little piece of Earth in space – to take care of when living and working in an extreme and stressful environment could have a significant impact.

“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,” she said.

“I think that plant systems will become important components of any long-duration exploration scenario.”

Expedition 44 crew members are expected to eat the lettuce on Monday.

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