Posted on 08/08/2015 10:54:29 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Expedition 44 crew members, including Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly, are ready to sample the fruits of their labour after harvesting a crop of "Outredgeous" red romaine lettuce from the "veggie plant" growth system on the orbiting laboratory.
The astronauts will clean the leafy greens with citric acid-based, food safe sanitizing wipes before consuming them.
...
Nasa's plant experiment, called Veg-01, is being used to study the in-orbit function and performance of the plant growth facility and its rooting "pillows" which contain the seeds.
The first "pillows" were activated, watered and cared for by Expedition 39 flight engineer Steve Swanson in May 2014.
After 33 days of growth, the plants were harvested and returned to Earth in October 2014.
At Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the plants underwent food safety analysis.
The second "Veg-01 plant pillows" were activated by Kelly on July 8 and grew again for 33 days before being harvested.
...
The veggie unit features a flat panel light bank that includes red, blue and green LEDs for plant growth and crew observation.
"Using LED lights to grow plants was an idea that originated with Nasa as far back as the late 1990s," Dr. Wheeler noted.
The purple/pinkish hue surrounding the plants is the result of a combination of the red and blue lights which by design emit more light than the green LEDs.
Green LEDS were added so the plants look like edible food rather than weird purple plants.
(Excerpt) Read more at gadgets.ndtv.com ...
Any photos?
Looks tasty to me. Wonder what they can use for dressing?
Thanks.
I assume they were grown at zero g.
That is interesting. Why so careful about actually eating lettuce anyway
There used to be TV ads for this thing you could set on the counter and it would grow lettuce and tomatoes right inside the house.
They are more likely to say “Micro-G” than 0g, for accuracy.
paul newman’s ginger and sesame is OUR favorite
I'm guessing a zero-g toilet isn't quite as efficient at removing all the ummmm, waste from the surroundings.
Better safe than sorry I guess.
Wanted to make sure that the space lettuce didn’t turn the astronauts in space zombies, or something.
Now why would they consume the sanitizing wipes?
"Ceterum censeo 0bama esse delendam."
'La bonne cuisine est la base du véritable bonheur.' - Auguste Escoffier
(Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
lol
Why? Did they import George Lopez' illegals to wipe the greens on their butts as they're picking them?
Yum, that’s a good one. Wonder how it would stick in zero gravity :-)
Aero gardens. I ended up with two. It’s a novelty - won’t save you money at the grocery store. I use mine for seed starting.
Those were interesting. I wonder what kind of scale it would take to actually produce enough food for a single astronaut... I would hope the domes in “Silent Running” aren’t the answer.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.