Nasa astronauts consume first lettuce grown in space

Six astronauts on Nasa’s International Space Station have tasted lettuce grown in the microgravity environment of space for the first time.

The red romaine lettuce was grown in a special plant-growing box, Veg-01, built by Orbital Sciences, and was sent to space in a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship.

The seeds were activated in the production bay and rooting pillows on 8 July, more than a year after the seeds were launched into orbit and were grown for 33 days.

On Monday, the lettuce was first cleaned with sanitizing wipes, which was then tried raw and later dressed with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and Italian balsamic vinegar, reported the Guardian.

Nasa has been working on enhancing its Veggie technology on its space station to ensure a sustainable food supplement for future astronauts. The organisation feels that if the technology is developed, it will help space explorers survive in space for months, or even years.

Speaking about the initiative, Scott Kelly, who has been in space for one year was quoted as saying: "If we’re ever going to go to Mars someday, and we will, we’re going to need a spacecraft that is much more sustainable.

"Having the ability for us to grow our own food is a big step in that direction."

Nasa carried out another Veggie experiment last year, when plants grown in space were brought back to the earth to be analysed.

Half of the plants from the current experiment will be packaged, frozen and returned to earth for testing.

---

Image: The lettuce had been grown in space for 33 days. Photo: courtesy of Nasa.