For the first time ever, fresh food grown in the microgravity
environment of space is on the menu for NASA astronauts aboard the
International Space Station. Expedition 44 crew members Scott Kelly, Kjell
Lindgren and Kimiya Yui sampled the red romaine lettuce which was grown as part
of the Veggie experiment after it had spent 33 days growing aboard the station.
NASA is maturing Veggie technology aboard the space station to provide future
pioneers with a sustainable food supplement – a critical part of NASA’s Journey
to Mars. As NASA moves toward long-duration exploration missions farther into
the solar system, Veggie will be a resource for crew food growth and
consumption. It also could be used by astronauts for recreational gardening
activities during deep space missions. The higher resolution images and higher
frame rate 4K videos can reveal more information when used on science
investigations, giving researchers a valuable new tool aboard the space station.
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