For the first time, at least officially, the NASA astronauts on board the International Space Station have tasted the product, or more specifically, the produce, of their work.
Expedition 44 crewmembers Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren of NASA, together with Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on Monday (Aug. 10) happily , which they freshly harvested from the orbiting lab's Veggie plant growth system.
"That's awesome," remarked Lindgren on his first bite.
The three first tasted the lettuce plain, before also trying it with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. []
"It tastes like arugula," said Kelly.
"It's fresh," replied Lindgren.
The three saved a few leaves for their Russian cosmonaut crewmates, two of whom were .
NASA astronauts Scott Kelly (left) and Kjell Lindgren (center) with Kimiya Yui of JAXA snack on freshly harvested space-grown red romaine lettuce as part of the Veggie experiment. Seed to salad in 33 daysVeggie plant growth facility and its rooting "pillows," which contain the seeds.The first pillows were activated, watered and cared for by Expedition 39 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Steve Swanson in May 2014. After 33 days of growth, the plants were harvested and returned to Earth last October. Back on the ground, the lettuce leaves went through food safety analysis at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. []
"This payload and having is a big step in that direction," he said.
The Veggie system was developed by ORBITEC (or Orbital Technologies Corp.) in Madison, Wisconsin. Veggie, along with two sets of pillows containing the romaine seeds and one set of zinnias, was delivered to the station on board a in April 2014.
"Blue and red wavelengths are the minimum needed to get good plant growth," explained Wheeler in a NASA release. "They are probably the most efficient in terms of electrical power conversion. The green LED [lights] help to enhance the human visual perception of the plants, but they don't put out as much light as the reds and blues."
The green LED lights help make the plants look like edible food rather than weird purple plants.
Even without the lights though, Outredgeous red romaine lettuce is the reddest of the known lettuces. NASA chose Outredgeous after considering spinach, beet, Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage and Japanese Mizuna plants for its ease of growth, nutritional content and overall taste.
Future, and past, of farming in spaceadding to the crew's food supply.
There may be a psychological benefit. The space station's crew does get some fresh fruits and vegetables, such as onions and apples, when the resupply ships arrive, but the quantity is limited and must be consumed quickly.
"We think that having that additional component of fresh food grown on the station, would make the crew generally happier, and hopefully healthier," said Gioia Massa, NASA project scientist for Veggie. "It's . It is something that changes with the passage of time."
That was the experience of the Russian cosmonauts who first experimented with growing edible plants.
, and learn about the past, and future of space food cultivation at collectSPACE.com
SPACE.com
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