"That's great," said NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, after he ate a piece of red lettuce that was grown in a special box. "Tastes good," agreed US astronaut Scott Kelly, who is spending one year at the research station. "Kind of like arugula," Kelly added, then used small bottles to spread extra virgin olive oil and vinegar on his leaf, much as one might spread mustard on a hot dog.
NASA says that if space explorers can grow their own food while they are away from the Earth they would be more likely to survive the deep space exploration, which can last months or even years. With no way to resupply a spacecraft making a long journey to and from Mars, the ability to grow food during the trip will be key to survive. "Having the ability for us to grow our own food is a big step in that direction," he said.
Ray Wheeler, NASA's lead scientist for advanced life support activities at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, also said fresh foods such as tomatoes, blueberries and red lettuce, "could have a positive impact on people's moods and also could provide some protection against radiation in space."
The red romaine lettuce was grown in a special plant-growing box called a Veggie unit that was built by Orbital Technologies Corporation in Madison, Wisconsin, and was flown to space aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship. The seeds are contained in rooting pillows, which come complete with soil and fertilizer. Since water cannot be poured in space, a special irrigation system delivers moisture to the plant pillows from below.
The seeds were "activated" by Kelly on July 8 and grew for 33 days. On Monday, Lindgren used tongs to harvest the lettuce from its growing box, before attaching the leaves carefully to a tray. He cleaned them with food-safe bag, to Kelly and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui. They saved a couple of leaves for Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka, who were outside the station doing a spacewalk.
A previous crop of lettuce was grown in space last year but was not eaten by astronauts. Instead, it underwent-and passed-food safety tests back on Earth.
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