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Astronauts Could Be Growing Beans in Space in 2021
Following the much-celebrated harvest of a head of romaine lettuce aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015, astronauts' vacuum-packed vittles may be kicked up a notch as early as 2021 with the addition of space-grown beans. More salad fixings are also in the cards. After that? The galaxy's the limit.
"The dream of every astronaut is to be able to eat fresh food like strawberries, cherry tomatoes or anything that's really flavorful," Silje Wolff, a plant physiologist at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Space (CIRiS) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), said in a statement. "Someday that will certainly be possible. We envision a greenhouse with several varieties of vegetables."
Wolff recently wrapped up an experiment where lettuce grew in space in specialized planters that regulate all the water, nutrients, gas and air the plants need.
Though she used artificial soil derived from lava rock as a substrate, Wolff says the goal is for the plants to grow directly in water infused with life-sustaining nutrients. In space, she noted, all the water and food must be recovered, which means that plant fertilization needs to be "as precise as possible."
(Score: 4, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Monday January 14 2019, @11:15AM
If they can sneak a pressure cooker past the TSA, that would work. Run to the orbital grocery store for some seasonings, I suppose. If no pressure cooker, the microwave should work almost as well. Still need to run to the grocery store for seasonings. Don't forget a dash of gravity, though, to hold all those beans near the center of the microwave. Fyngyrz is right - they need to simulate some gravity.