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On Monday, NASA flight engineer Kate Rubins took out 20 radish plants grown at the Advanced Plant Habitat of the space station and wrapped them in aluminum foil for cold storage until they can make the journey back to Earth on Monday. next year.
“I have worked at APH from the beginning, and every new crop we can grow brings me great joy because what we learn from them will help NASA send astronauts to Mars and bring them back safely,” said Nicole Dufour. the director of the Advanced Plant Habitat program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, in a press release.
Back on land, scientists at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida are growing radishes in a control group to be harvested on December 15. The researchers will compare radishes grown in space with vegetables grown on Earth, verifying how space production is measured. in providing the minerals and nutrients astronauts need as they prepare for longer journeys.
Meanwhile, the astronauts will repeat the radish experiment in the skies, planting and harvesting another round of radish cultivation to give scientists more data to extract from.
With their short growing time, radishes present potential advantages as a food source for future astronauts who will embark on missions to deep space in the coming years. Radishes grow quickly and can reach full maturity in 27 days.
Root vegetables also don’t require a lot of maintenance by the crew as they grow.
“Radishes offer great research potential by virtue of their sensitive bulb formation,” Karl Hasenstein, professor of biology at the University of Louisiana and principal investigator on the project, said in a press release.
Researchers will analyze the effects of carbon dioxide on radishes, as well as how vegetables acquire and distribute minerals, according to Hasenstein, who has conducted plant experiments with NASA since 1995.
The astronauts have grown 15 different types of plants on the station, including eight different types of green leafy vegetables. And NASA has already tested more than 100 crops on Earth, identifying which candidates to test next in space.
“Growing a variety of crops helps us determine which plants thrive in microgravity and offer the best variety and nutritional balance for astronauts on long-duration missions,” Dufour said.
Years of research with space crops
NASA researchers began experiments using their plant production system growth chambers in 2014, shortly after they were delivered to the space station.
In August 2015, NASA shared a video featuring American astronauts Dr. Kjell Lindgren and Scott Kelly floating aboard the station, saying “Cheers” and eating the space-grown treat.
“It tastes good,” Kelly said.
Getting space farming right is important because the nutrients in prepackaged foods that astronauts currently eat in space degrade over a period of time, NASA said.
Getting humans to Mars and returning safely on a two- or three-year mission requires growing food along the way. That not only gives the astronauts a more vibrant supply of fresh nutrients during the journey; It also responds to an emotional need, as they tend to crops that have both a figurative and literal taste of home, according to the agency.
NASA’s Artemis program aims to get the first woman and next man to the Moon in 2024, and establish a sustained presence on the Moon by 2028. From there, the agency will be ready to begin its next big thing. jump, to Mars.
But before we get to the red planet, we first have to make a tasty green space salad.
CNN’s Ashley Strickland contributed to this story.
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