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As part of a new NASA experiment, astronauts aboard the International Space Station harvested space-grown romaine lettuce heads Monday, the first time food has been grown while in orbit.
“If we’re ever going to go to Mars someday, and we will, we’re going to need a spacecraft that is much more sustainable,” said Scott Kelly, one of the astronauts aboard the spacecraft. “Having the ability for us to grow our own food is a big step in that direction.”
The NASA experiment, dubbed Veggie but officially called Veg-01, is designed to study plant growth in a micro-gravity environment in order to develop and improve the system of growing produce while in space.
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Watch as 3 astronauts harvest and taste space-grown red romaine lettuce first time for #NASAVeggie study. https://t.co/LURBUxsM8I
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station)
August 10, 2015
NASA spokesperson Stephanie said the experiment will help with the issue of food supply, as missions are getting increasingly longer and farther out to space making the necessary resupply flights much more challenging. If gardens were introduced into spacecrafts they could be relatively self-sustaining, said Schierholz.
Currently, astronauts aboard the ISS are equipped with about six-months worth of food, all of which is packaged and can endure the stressful conditions of space.
Kelly planted the seeds July 8, more than a year after the crew was launched into orbit. They have been growing in clay pots, using water, fertilizer and the light from red, blue and green LEDs. According to NASA scientists, the green LED is used to make the lettuce turn more green and less red than it otherwise would do.
“We could more efficiently grow them without the green LEDs,” said Schierholz, “but the green actually gives it psychological benefit of eating a food that looks familiar versus food that looks weird.”
The spacecraft gardens will also provide the astronauts with extra nutrients – such as antioxidants from lettuce and tomatoes – currently missing from their diet of packaged goods. It could also be beneficial for their mental health by reminding them of home, according to researchers.
Although this is the first time that space-grown food has been eaten while still in orbit, it is not the first time it has grown in outer space. NASA has been experimenting with growing plants in space for decades, but the results have always been taken back to earth for closer examination, according to the space program.
