New Thanksgiving Crops on the Space Station
NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor photographed ‘Dragoon’ lettuce growing in a ‘plant pillow’ on Oct. 30. If all goes well, the lettuce will be ready to enjoy in time for Thanksgiving.
Media Credit: NASA
Crew members onboard the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) may have two new veggies to enjoy with their Thanksgiving dinner—“Red Russian” kale and “Dragoon” lettuce. NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor recently planted the two new crops in the space station’s Veggie plant growth facility as part of NASA’s Veg-03 G experiment. The seeds were sent to the ISS in “plant pillows” containing controlled-release fertilizer together with a special type of clay that increases aeration, and the plant pillows were placed on a root mat in the Veggie facility.
Growing crops on the space station provides valuable information about how plants respond to gravity, which is important for future long-duration space missions. Research on plants in microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment. also allows scientists to gain a better understanding of fundamental plant development processes, which could lead to important agricultural advances back on Earth.
To learn more about plant research on the ISS National Lab, see the related resources below.