In a massive milestone, astronauts successfully harvested fresh radishes in space. This is a great prospect and it could help create food production for future longer-term missions as NASA prepares for a trip to the moon and Mars.
Radishes in space
On November 30, Kate Rubins, a NASA flight engineer, pulled out 20 radish plants that were grown in the Advanced Plant Habitat of the International Space Stations. She wrapped the radish plants in foil for cold storage until the plants can make it back to Earth in 2021.
Radishes are the latest vegetable crop that were successfully grown and harvested in space. The other vegetables were green lettuce, red romaine lettuce, lentils, Chinese cabbage and mustard, according to NASA.
Nicole Dufour, the Advanced Plant Habitat program manager at NASA said in a news release that she had worked on APH before and each new crop that they were able to grow brings her joy because what they learn from the harvest is that it can help NASA send astronauts to the moon and Mars without worrying about food shortage and they can be sent home safely.
Future space missions
Meanwhile the scientists at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are now growing radishes in a control group set. The radishes are scheduled for harvest on December 15.
The scientists will them compare the difference between the radishes grown in space and the radishes grown on Earth's soil. Scientists will inspect the minerals and nutrients between the two, to see if it is safe for astronauts to consume as NASA prepares for longer trips.
Astronauts will continue with the radish experiment aboard the International Space Agency and they will still harvest rounds of radish crop to provide scientist more data.
Radishes have short cultivation time, so it can give potential advantages as a food source for astronauts in the future who will embark on long space missions. Radishes grow fast and they can reach their full maturity in just 27 days. It also does not need much maintenance as they grow.
Karl Hasentein, a professor from the University of Louisiana said in a news release that radishes give great research possibilities by virtue of its sensitive bulb formation.
The scientists will analyze the effects of carbon dioxide on the radishes and how it will acquire and distribute minerals. Astronauts has since grown 15 different kinds of plants on the International Space Station, including 8 different kinds of leafy greens.
NASA has tested more than 100 crops on Earth to know which crop can be tried out in space. Dufour said that growing a range of crops helps them know which plants will thrive in a zero gravity atmosphere and give the best nutritional balance for astronauts who will be sent on long-duration missions.
Years of research
Researchers and scientists at NASA began experiments back in 2014 by using the Vegetable Production Systems growth chambers.
The experiment with red romaine lettuce was written and published in March 2020 in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science, concluding that space lettuce was safe for astronauts to eat.
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Written by Sieeka Khan
