Experiment to eat vegetables grown from seeds at the International Space Station of zero gravity will be conducted

Because it takes a tremendously long time to go out into infinitely expanding universe and aim at a distant star, how to cover the food of the astronauts getting on the spaceship becomes one of the big tasks. NASA has been experimenting with cultivating vegetables in the space ship and making it edible without resorting to conventional supplements from the ground but attempting to actually grow vegetables in outer space and eat it It is about to be done.

Crew Members Sample Leafy Greens Grown on Space Station | NASA
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/meals_ready_to_eat

This experiment is undertaken by "Expedition 44 (44th long-term stay crew)" launched on the Soyuz spacecraft on July 23, 2015, and the environment is very weak in the International Space Station (ISS) An experiment to reproduce a series of processes that let you grow lettuce from seeds and actually eat it under is done on August 10th of the U.S. time. For this 44th long-term stay crew, a Japanese astronaut who was a former SDF memberKimiya OchoiIt is also known that Mr. joins.

Expedition 44 | NASA


A series of NASA initiatives including this experiment is also talked about in the following movies.

Space Station Live: Lettuce Look at Veggie - YouTube


The state of the astronaut dealing with cultivated lettuce. The variety of cultivated lettuce is written on the page of NASA "red romaine lettuce" and it is a type of sunny lettuce that can be eaten frequently in Japan.


The equipment used for cultivation is like this. By using a combination of LEDs that emit light of the wavelength that promotes the growth of vegetables most efficiently, it is a facility that can grow vegetables with less energy. The light used was mainly red and blue, and it added that it added green. In order for vegetables to grow, only red and blue light is enough, but as it is, it becomes a strange color vegetable that does not produce appetite, so it has been devised to make it look like a vegetable by adding green light is.


Lettuce cultivated is such a feeling, it has a glossy feeling of freshness. It is likely that there are also many red parts than Sunny lettuce that is frequently seen in Japan, as well as differences in varieties, but also the influence of light.


Lettuce seeds were launched into outer space in a pack called "Pillow (pillow)". Pillow which reached the universe is activated (activated) by the mission crew injecting water, and seed growth begins.


I was staying at the ISS as a 39th long-term stay crew reflected with the equipmentKoichi WakataMr. Pillow with lettuce seeds was launched during the 39th long-term stay mission, germinated first in weightless state, then brought back to the ground and detailed investigation was done. In the 44th long-term stay mission this time, we will grow up to seeds for the first time and eat indeed.


With this experiment, it seems that the first step to grow vegetables and make it as food even in the spaceless space of weightlessness will be confirmed. From now on, based on this achievement, we will conduct a larger scale cultivation and investigation will be conducted to utilize it as food etc. of Mart exploration for a long time by human being heading for exploration.

NASA will soon carry out the flight test of Mars spaceship "Orion" and announce new illustration - GIGAZINE


It seems that the use as a vegetable factory that makes a base for the moon and Mars and makes food for human beings to live is also taken into consideration.


Even more interesting is the possibility of being applied not only to the universe but also to the earth. The concerned party is now paying attention to food production in areas close to the desert such as Dubai in the Middle East.


In the dry ground, it is accompanied by a lot of difficulties to grow vegetables and grains. It may be possible to produce stable vegetables by bringing in a device similar to growing vegetables in space in such a place.


· Additional notes 2015/08/11 10:50
NASA released a movie of the crews actually eating vegetables grown in outer space. The crew eats is a kind of lettuce called Red Romain, which is likely to be the first step of self-sufficiency in space.

Veggies in Space: Astronauts Sample Freshly Grown Lettuce - YouTube