Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are currently using their green toes to grapple with their neon-grafted vegetable garden made up of radishes, mustard greens, pak choi, and lettuce .
ISS Zero-Gravity Garden
NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins has now taken the lead in cultivating and caring for the vegetables grown on the ISS and several other experiments. The successful zero-gravity garden was the result of Hopkins ’first-ever recorded plant transplant within NASA’s Vegetable Production System.
Hopkins and the team would harvest the second wave of radishes grown in space and eat them over the New Year. He also worked on new experiments, one of which was the first ever crop repositioning in space.
During this experiment, Hopkins noticed that some crops did not thrive in space as much as other crops. Therefore, an ISS astronaut experimented to rearrange the crop to get the most nutrients.
Another experiment focused on placing the first lettuce seeds in orbit. Under normal conditions, receptions will be placed in nutrient-rich media before being sent to the ISS. However, the development of new seed films allowed ISS astronauts to grow crops on their own.
In a statement, Hopkins stressed the importance of the experiments in future long-term space missions. First, the experiments provided a medium for future astronauts to grow crops in space that will provide a sustainable food source that will enhance the nutrition of astronauts and make the team more self-sufficient.
Additionally, Hopkins explains that the zero-gravity vegetable garden builds confidence by reminding the team of their connection to Earth.
Hopkins referred to the psychological importance of growing and eating fresh fruits for astronauts. With all their food put in a pre-packaged form that leads to the monotony effect of food, people lose their taste and feel no more involved. Occasional foods such as fresh vegetables and snacks can gain strong psychological energy and will be relevant for future long-haul missions and Mars missions.
On the other hand, the stability of prepacked foods is an important feature for future Mars missions. During future Mars missions, astronauts travel for seven months each way, and will need several feeds to sustain them over years of missions.
Hopkins says pre-packaged food currently has a good shelf life of about 18 months. However, the psychological part of getting fresh food as well as interacting from time to time with new plants will definitely help astronauts in the future.
(Image: NASA / Wikimedia Commons)
ALL CENTER: First plant transfer at International Space Station sponsored by Microgravity
Deep Space food challenge
Ralph Fritsche, senior project manager at the Kennedy Space Center, says researchers are trying to inspire continued capabilities for astronauts to provide crops for food in addition to prepacked food.
According to NASA, it has partnered with the Canadian Space Agency to coordinate efforts to find ideas and solutions for humans to feed astronauts in future missions.
The organizations have launched the Deep Space Food Challenge, a multi-level international competition open to U.S., Canadian, and International partners who can develop sustainable and innovative food systems for research missions. long human.
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