NASA show the space station 33 days harvest LED vegetable fruits

The astronauts are about to show their plants in space at the international space station (photo: NASA)

Finally, the cultivation of fresh plants in the space microgravity environment officially boarded the NASA International Space Station astronaut menu. Expedition 44 team members, including the one year old astronaut Stott Scott (Kelly), is ready to show their harvest in August 10th: the space version of red lettuce. The red lettuce is a vegetable growing system from the orbiting laboratory.

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, brought back to earth for scientific analysis.

NASA's plant experiment, called Veg-01, is used to study the effects of vegetable plants on the orbit of space and the growth efficiency and the cultivation of seeds and plants".

NASA continues to give birth to the space station's vegetable science and technology to provide a sustainable source of food for future astronauts - a very important part of the manned mission to mars. With the NASA towards a long-range space exploration mission, more in-depth into the solar system, vegetables will be an important source of food for the astronaut team. And it can also be used as a leisure activity for astronauts in outer space missions. The seeds had been in space for 15 months before they began to grow. The first cultivation package opened in May 2014 by an expedition 39 flight engineer Stephen history group (Steve Swanson) Wangsen 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 packages were opened in July 8th, and Kelly was responsible for the cultivation of the crop for 33 days.

NASA plans to grow edible plants on outer space and other planets as food for astronauts. (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. Vegetables and two assembled with the seeds of the cranberry seed cultivation package and a group of hundred days together in April 2014 with the SpaceX mission to the space station.

Can be split and can be extended vegetable units by a shallow flat, with red and blue green LED lamp for plant growth and convenient observation. The concept of using LED lights to grow plants can be traced back to the 1990s NASA program. 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 his engineers, as well as an innovative research project team from the U.S. orbital science and technology center, work together to develop vegetable systems. Gioia, Ma Sha (Gioia Massa) Dr. NASA is located in the Kennedy planting vegetables exclusive scientists. Dr MA and his team have developed a set of Space Vegetable units to be tested to ensure growth in space. The purple / pink light that surrounds the plant system is a combination of red and blue lights, designed to produce more light than a green LED lamp. At the same time, add green LED light irradiation, under the purple light, people feel a little strange appearance, so that the plant looks more like something to eat. Weller said: "blue and red wavelength is the basic conditions for plant growth. They should be the most efficient color for the conversion of electricity into light energy. Green LED helps to strengthen the human visual effect on plants, but in fact, the light is not as red and blue lights. "

2010 to 2011, Weller, Martha and Gary Stahl (G Torgovnik ary Stutte) has in the NASA environment (Habitat Demonstration Unit) drill units of similar experiments near the Arizona desert area, cultivated plants. Dr. Weller says the vegetable system will help NASA learn more about growing plants in a controlled farming environment. 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. Such systems are popular in parts of Asia, and the United States has started to follow up.

Weller said: "the evidence shows that tomatoes, blueberries and red lettuce are a good source of antioxidants. If you can get this kind of food in space will have a positive impact on human mood, and can also reduce the impact of space radiation on the class. "After the first harvest of lettuce and the return to the space station, Ma began working with a team of Flying Doctors and NASA security representatives to get the team to eat the crops. "The results of the microbiological food safety analysis of Veg-01 's romaine lettuce look good," he said. "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) scientist Alexander Vermeer in our study, trying to find the answer.

Vermeer is a scientist in behavioral health and performance research, involved in NASA's human research program. Her team is committed to reducing the psychological risk of mission personnel on mars. Vermeer pointed out: "the vegetable planting experiment is the only one in our study, which focuses on the evaluation of the effects of plant species on human beings in outer space. "Her team is dedicated to the study of space crew's behavior, performance decline, team communication and psychological adjustment. Vermeer said: "the future of space missions may be as high as 6 astronauts living in a long time