Space & Astronomy

Astronauts grow edible vegetables on ISS

By T.K. Randall
February 2, 2014

Image: International Space Station
Credit: (PD) NASA Astronauts have been growing vegetables on the International Space Station for some time in an effort to determine how viable it would be to do so on a long-haul manned mission to Mars or beyond.

According to Russian researcher Margarita Levinskikh, the crew have been successful in harvesting peas, dwarf wheat and other greens grown entirely in the weightless environment of space. Tests conducted on the crop have also indicated that all the vegetables are fit for human consumption.The experiment is particularly important because the peas used seeds from previous generations of peas that had also been grown in space. Even five generations down the line, the newly grown peas were no different than they would have been had they been grown on the Earth.

Levinskikh has revealed that the next step will be to grow rice, bell peppers and tomatoes.

Source: The Register

Tags: ISS, Space Station