Gardening on the International Space Station? Astronauts Test Vegetable Production System

Maybe NASA won't need to sign any more expensive contracts with SpaceX to send resupply missions up to the International Space Station. The Kennedy Space Center will be sending astronauts a garden to grow their own lettuce in space.

The Vegetable Production System, otherwise known as "Veggie," will attempt to grow six heads of red romaine lettuce in space; they will then be tested for edibility to see if, in the future, astronauts can actually eat them. Currently, NASA food safety rules haven't approved any consumption of fresh produce.

Russian cosmonauts have already consumed plants from small gardens aboard the International Space Station, but American astronauts do not yet have clearance to do so, typically eating food from plastic pouches or tin cans. However, American astronauts have done experiments with gardens aboard the ISS before.

One ongoing experiment, called "The Astro Garden," began in January where ISS crewmembers maintained plants in space and took pictures of their growth progress. The garden is very small, measuring 17.8 cm x 10.1 cm x 25.4 cm, and all the astronauts have to do is add water to the pre-planted seeds with a syringe and place the garden under an existing light source. The results of this experiment are still pending.

The "Veggie" project is scheduled for June, when astronauts on the ISS will receive a 15-pound veggie growth chamber that looks like a glass box. Orbital Technologies Corp. in Wisconsin developed the chamber from which astronauts will wear gloves and harvest the plants with forceps and scissors. Within a month, the lettuce plants are expected to sprout up to about six inches.

Scientists believe this could not only help astronauts obtain another source of fresh food, but could also create a hobby in the process. Astronauts have said it can get lonely and boring up on the space station, so giving them an activity that will keep them occupied and provide an alternate healthy food source can only help.

To read more about the Vegetable Production System, visit this USA Today article.