Houston, we have a salad (Image: NASA)
Todayâs special: salad, fresh from the space garden. On 8 July, astronauts on the International Space Station began growing their own romaine lettuce. If all goes well, by next month, they will be able to eat some.
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The microgravity farm system, nicknamed , produced its first round of crops about one year ago. However, none of that lettuce was eaten. It was frozen and shipped down to Earth for analysis, where scientists could ensure that the plantsâ bacteria were safe to consume.
They found that the space lettuceâs microbes matched up closely with those found on a control group grown on the ground â no surprise pathogens or contaminants. âIn general, Iâd say these plants are cleaner than what youâd get at the grocery store,â says , the NASA science team lead for the project.
That first round of experiments also helped Massaâs team work out some kinks in their watering system, and to check the plantsâ structure.
âWe were interested to see what the texture of the plants would be like if they donât have to stand up against gravity,â Massa says. âMaybe they wouldnât be as crispy or crunchy. But from the crew membersâ descriptions it was pretty similar to the plants here on Earth.â
Dressing not included
This time around, once the new lettuce finishes growing, the astronauts will have the chance to try a few leaves for themselves â provided they wipe them down with sanitising wipes first. Massaâs team consulted closely with the medical board at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to ensure the lettuce would be safe to eat.
âThe last thing youâd want is to get food poisoning in space,â she says. âThey can add it to their meal, they can make lettuce wraps or whatever. We didnât send up salad dressing.â Half of the harvest will be set aside and shipped back to Earth for further tests.
The Veggie project will help us learn how to grow fresh vegetables for the crews of future space missions. Upcoming experiments may include new plants such as dwarf tomatoes and dwarf peppers. A shipment of cabbage seeds was lost last month when a SpaceX rocket exploded.
Lettuce was picked as the first space crop thanks in part to its robust nature, naturally low microbial levels and high levels of antioxidants. Its mild taste was also a factor, adds Massa. âNobody really hates lettuce.â
