Plants, algae and other strange green stuff arrived at the space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The smoke is swollen and the flames illuminated the dawn sky as SpaceX successfully launched its 15th cargo replenishment mission on Friday, June 29th.

A Dragon spacecraft was perched at the top of the company's last Falcon 9 block, making a turn in orbit. Nestled inside was 5900 lbs. (2,700 kilograms) of goods, including unique space food and special treats for waiting astronauts.

Historically, astronauts have consumed a specialized and planned diet composed mainly of packaged foods. But just like us, they like to change that from time to time. During a post-launch briefing, space station program manager Kirk Shireman explained that frozen treats (including ice cream) and blueberries – in from Texas – were on the way. [In Photos: SpaceX’s Dazzling Dragon Launch to Space Station]

Fresh Cargo

]] Just like in the famous science fiction series "Firefly", fresh food in the space is a rare treat, as fruits and vegetables must be shipped from the surface of the planet. Once in orbit, perishable goods have a shelf life (as on Earth) and must be consumed fairly quickly. But that's starting to change with the addition of NASA's Plant Growth Chamber, dubbed Veggie.

As missions get bigger, NASA wants to make sure crews have access to fresh food and that astronauts can grow theirs. The reason behind this is twofold, NASA's Veggie researchers said: This brings nutritional and psychological benefits to the crew and helps researchers understand what types of plants grow best in microgravity.

"We are using Veggie to answer science questions about the types of plants we can grow in space for astronauts," said Trent Smith, Veggie Project Manager at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "We want astronauts to be able to produce fresh food to supplement their diet."

To date, most of the crops grown in the specialized growing chamber have been a variety of lettuce called "Roman Outredge". But it's about to change. In the interior of the dragon that arrives, four new types of plants: the lettuce "Dragoon", the pak choy "Extra Dwarf", the cabbage "Red Russian" and the mustard "Wasabi" will join a new harvest of the true Roman red. In total, there will be 18 plant pillows added to the vegetarian room of this arrival.

This mission – named VEG-03G, H, I – is a partnership between NASA and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Students helped select plants for Veggie because this payload is designed to engage youth in STIM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines. These plant varieties were chosen because, unlike the previous Roman cultures, they are rich in vitamins B1, C and K, as well as in potassium.

The Human Research Program has identified these nutrients as important because they decrease over time in prepackaged foods that astronauts usually eat. Astronaut food is usually stored on the space station for months before it is consumed, so it is beneficial to supplement diets with fresh foods. This ensures that astronauts get all the key nutrients they need, according to the researchers.

"The nutritional intake of fresh and nutritious food and the psychological benefits of growing plants become paramount while the agency is planning future missions in deep space destinations", Smith explained in the same release. "And the participation of Fairchild students is so exciting that these students stick to these long experiences throughout the semester, showing that they have the tenacity to be scientists." [Plants in Space: Photos by Gardening Astronauts] [19659002] A lot of space algae has also arrived in orbit. Mark Settles, a researcher at the University of Florida, and his colleagues hope this study will help them understand how algae respond to microgravity

Why Algae?

Algae are incredibly effective at using low intensity light. The researchers said that algae are also useful as a biobased raw material (which means that the plant can be used in the manufacture of materials such as plastics and algae). paper). And the researchers explained that environmental stresses (such as microgravity) have been known to stimulate epigenetic changes in algae. These can sometimes produce extremely useful compounds, such as antioxidants, and even substances that can be used to help mitigate radiation.

However, there is one major concern: the growth of algae. Settles said the biggest problem with algae growth in the space is that most algae species grow faster in liquid, but liquids do not behave the same way in the Space only on the ground.

"We are trying to domesticate the algae for growth systems that would be practical in the space," Settles told the media.

As part of the investigation, which is the first non-NASA payload to use a vegetarian room, the crew will attempt to grow several strains of algae in the room. Settles said the team hopes to see algae grow inside porous plastic bags that will be placed in rooms already aboard the space station. Live algae samples will eventually come back on the same dragon. The team will study and analyze the strains to see which types of algae best respond to microgravity.

"We will essentially test breathable plastic bags that are used to grow cultured animal cells on Earth that will grow algae in these bags," said Mr. Settles. "Laboratory algae are grown in glass vials, [placed] on shakers for over 50 years and in plastic bags, they grow much more slowly than in vials."

In this experiment, scientists will identify the associated genes. with faster growth; the researchers hope this will help them design algae for mass production in the space. On Earth, corn is one of the most productive crops today, but it would not grow well in space, because of lighting and stress. space, according to the researchers. On the other hand, algae can grow in smaller containers while helping to consume more carbon dioxide.

There have not been many studies on how algae respond to microgravity, so Settles and his team hope to learn a lot from this research, he said.

Microgreens

The Dragon also conducted another student survey, which explored how microgreens, such as rhubarb and basil, grow in space. Instead of the special growing chamber on which romaine lettuce rests, this batch of mini-vegetables will grow in test tubes inside a Space Tango CubeLab, which looks like a miniature laboratory in a box. Each CubeLab contains everything that is needed to run the experiment and is designed to operate independently, without supervision of the astronaut.

Each of these CubeLabs is equipped with a fish-eye camera that takes a photo every 30 minutes, according to Twyman Clements, CEO of Space Tango. These cameras will allow researchers to collect photos and share them with students, who will run a field version of this survey in their classroom. At the end of the 21-day mission, said Clements, the plants will be returned to students, who will compare the results of their terrestrial experience with those of the station.

In this configuration, the plants are in a phytogel, which Clements said resembles Jell-O. This substance contains all the nutrients that plants need to grow. The seeds are sterilized before being planted. The plants are stored in special coolers that maintain the temperature at 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit) until they reach orbit. Once installed on the station, the plants will be warmed and, hopefully, grow.

Could we see these greens in future Veggie iterations? First, they must prove that they can sprout and grow in the absence of gravity.

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