Fresh vegetables available in space!!! Yay! As a part of NASA’s plant experiment, Plant Habitat-02 (PH-02), conducted to learn how the plants can grow in microgravity (very weak gravity) conditions. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins harvested the first crop of radish on International Space Station. Radish was chosen as it is a nutritious root vegetable needing little maintenance once sown and has a small cultivation time (27 days). A growth chamber for plant research, Advanced Plant Habitat (APH), was used for the cultivation process. The chamber was equipped with LED lights and mechanism for controlled release of water, fertilizer, nutrients and oxygen to the plant roots. This new harvest has been wrapped in foil paper and stored in cold storage to be brought back to Earth in 2021 for research. Success of this harvest would be helpful in future food production efforts for long term expeditions to the Moon and Mars.
Station
Image credit: @ISS_Research