NASA is Growing Lettuce in Space

For the first time, NASA will be starting to grow their own food in space, starting at the end of this year! The Veggie system is a rig that can grow 6 heads of Romaine lettuce plants in a month, using pink LED lamps. This step will end up saving NASA a great deal of money, and obviously can lead to better food production methods as well as other positive research. But what about space germs? Kim Horcher and Tim Frisch discuss.

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TAGS: Space Lettuce, Veggie, Veggie Project, Space Veggies, Space Agriculture, Space Farm, NASA farm, plants in space, lettuce in space, space cabbages

[psychosavant]

They don't worry about microbes from dirt because there will be no dirt. Lettuce can use hydroponics to replace dirt with nutrient solutions as a substrate.

[lubricatedgoat]

NASA should look at making the structure of farms as cheaply as possible. It could be done in pipes, using minimal area if they grew something more efficient than lettuce, like algae.

Think algae-array panels hanging off the station like solar panels, fully modular and expandable.

They'd make oxygen and food, plus process waste to a degree, and depending on the quantity of water, could serve as a thermal accumulator and emergency water.

As for the algae output - science it until delicious.

[helleland]

Presumably they will not bring in any dirt. Using aeroponics (or possibly hydroponics) would be a much more efficient way of producing food.
If such food production could be scaled up, we could start producing our food on non-arable land, vertically and using much less resources. Doing this kind of thing in space required them to do it as efficient as possible. Research on such efficiency could potentially be extremely important to our future, not just in space, but to our entire ecosystem.

[Trifler]

They've had many plant growing experiments with tomatoes, etc., but never one that wasn't part of an experiment.

Also $10, 000 per pound of food sent into orbit is indeed a lot, but you have to keep in the context that it costs $10, 000 per pound to send *anything* into orbit.

[TechnicallyLenard]

One big problem! Plants need plenty of 02 to grow! So, are we supposed to tank all their 02 in by shuttle? That would be unbelievably expensive - not to mention time consuming!

[TechnicallyLenard]

Sorry... I did just notice that my newly updated browser insists on auto-correcting "O2" with "02". That's why I disable Auto-correct.. Just noticed it had been apparently enabled again with the upgrade.

[alberthadonlyone]

O2 is Oxygen and space travel is responsible for incredible innovations which are almost insignificant compared to what is still to come.

[Mayfleette]

Yeah, now that I think about if it is more 'habitable' it's not by a lot. There's more water on mars, right? And what about an atmosphere? What little atmosphere mars has is better than none, right? "I think we need to take baby steps and not run before we can walk" I completely agree, but do you think the mars one people could generate the money for it?

[kght]

lettuce is a cabbage. cabbage covers allot of varieties, including lettuce.

[unamaxify]

Soon is relative, 1000 years is soon in cosmic terms.
besides who says we have travel to other stars by crossing the all the space that's between them.

[ThePowerfulPanda]

A nice small step. I just don't trust lettuce by itself though. A person put on an all lettuce diet could become patient zero for zombies.

[laug]

re the mars trip - I keep telling people, they are going to change the destination to the moon - I think they will do it too - and not before time.

[Josh-lelu]

Never forget where they grew the lettuce.

[WrecktifiedUSBB]

The water and soil will definitely weigh more than already grown cabbage.

[Westerngun]

I've decided I like you guys better than sourcefed. Way more informative yet still entertaining.

[helleland]

Also, about the Mars thing; Have faith in SpaceX! According to Elon Musk their reusable rocket should be up and running by next year (see interview with Salman Khan). The whole reason why space is expensive is because every time you travel, your vehicle is disintegrated. Imagine how expensive a road trip would be if you needed a new car every time you went out.
Mars can become affordable! All we need is reusable rockets... coming next year! :)

[Mayfleette]

but the whole point of going to mars is that it's more habitable than the moon. I have no idea how much cheaper it is to go to the moon as opposed to mars, but if they do change it to the moon will they have a return trip? (I don't think they'll change it to the moon, I think they'll just quit, period. or maybe they'll later change it to the moon as they are winding down to break it to the public that they aren't going

[JohnSF]

"PIGS IN SPACE!" lolololol (Muppets)

[nicodimus]

Lettuce is almost all water, very little nutrition. They'll need to work on potatoes or something more substantial.

[TheAlmightyLurker]

Ladies and gentlemen, the American education system at work right here.