NASA display space station 33 days harvest planting vegetables fruits LED

The astronauts on the international space station will showcase their cultivation space planting vegetables (photo: NASA)

Finally, the fresh plant cultivation in space microgravity environment officially boarded the NASA International Space Station astronaut menu. Expedition 44 team members, including at a year of astronaut Stott? (Scott Kelly), Kelly has been ready for the August 10th show their harvest: a space version of red romaine. These red romaine lettuce is planted vegetable growth system from the orbiting lab.

In the start before the astronauts will use food safety disinfection disinfection towel leaves citric acid base. They will eat half of the harvest, the other half will be packaged frozen, back to earth for scientific analysis.

The NASA plant is named Veg-01, and used to study the planting vegetables in orbit operation and growth efficiency and a seed, plant root cultivation package "".

The birth of NASA continuous space station planting vegetable science and technology, in order to provide future astronauts sustainable source of food - a manned mission to Mars is a very important part. With the NASA in the long-range exploration of space mission, the solar system will be more in-depth, vegetables are an important food source space team. And also can be used as space missions to outer space when people in leisure activities. At the beginning of the cultivation, the seed has been standing in the space of 15 months. The first cultivation package opened in May 2014, the group by the expedition 39 flight engineer Stephen (Steve Swanson) Wangsen? History of watering, cultivation. On the 33 day after the successful growth, harvest and return to earth in October 2014 at the Kennedy Space Center, and received food safety analysis. Second Veg-01 cultivation package opened in July 8th, by Kelly responsible for 33 days of harvest and cultivation.

The NASA plan in outer space and on other planets to grow edible plant as astronaut food supplies. (photo: NASA)

Vegetable planting system by the Wisconsin Railway Technology Center in the United States (ORBITEC) research and development, and at the Kennedy Space Center after testing, before entering the space. Cultivation of vegetables and two assembly package Romaine seeds and a group of Zinnia together in April 2014 with the SpaceX mission sent to the space station.

Split and extension of the vegetable planting unit by a shallow layer of flat form, LED lamp with a blue and red green color for convenient observation of plant growth and. The concept of the use of plant cultivation lamp LED can be traced back to the 1990s NASA plan??. At that time the senior living plan by ray? Weller (Ray Wheeler) led by Dr, R & D in Kennedy research and technology project office.

Dr. Weller and engineers from the United States and innovation research center of science and technology project track team, along with the development of vegetable planting system. Gioia? Ma Sha (Gioia Massa) Dr. NASA is located in the Kennedy planting vegetables exclusive scientists. Dr. Martha and team developed a set of space for planting vegetables, and verified to ensure growth in space. Hanging plants in purple / pink and light from a set of red and blue light combination, through the design, can produce more than LED green light. At the same time to join the green LED light irradiation, in purple light, makes people feel a bit strange appearance, let the plant looks more like something to eat. Weller said: "the blue and red wavelength is the basic conditions for the growth of plants. They should be converted into light energy to power the most efficient color. Green LED is helping to strengthen human visual effects for plant, but the light is not red, blue light so much."

2010 to 2011, Weller, Martha and Gary Stahl (? G? Ary? Stutte), once in the NASA environment (Habitat Demonstration Unit) drill units of similar experiments near the Arizona desert area, cultivated plants. Dr. Weller said vegetable planting system will help NASA to learn more about cultivated plants in controlled environment agriculture information. A similar set consists of vertical planting agriculture, this is planted in a stacked hydroponic crops, and with red and blue LED lamp as light source. This kind of system is popular in some Asian countries, and the United States have begun to follow up.

Weller pointed out: "the evidence shows that tomatoes, blueberries and red lettuce are a good source of antioxidants. If we can get this kind of food for human mood will have positive help in space, and also can reduce the space radiation effects on some kind of." After the first batch of lettuce harvest and returned to the space station, Ma Sha began and a flying doctor team and the NASA representative security cooperation, approved by the spacemen team this batch of edible crops. Martha said: "microbial food safety analysis results Veg-01 Romaine seems very good." In addition to the nutritional value of plants in space, astronauts on the psychological level to have positive help? NASA Houston's Jansen Space Center (Johnson Space Center) scientists ale Alexander? Vermeer hand research, trying to find the answer.

Vermeer is a behavioral health and performance research scientists involved in NASA human research program. Her team working on a manned mission to Mars can reduce their psychological risk. Vermeer pointed out: "the vegetable planting experiment is currently the study we conducted, only focuses on the evaluation of plant effects on humans in space research." Behavior performance and team communication and psychological adjustment etc., her team is dedicated to the study of the crew members. Vermeer Description: "future space missions may have up to 6 astronauts long time living in a confined space, and the opportunity to communicate with each other