Category Archives: Astroculture

First Flowers Grown on International Space Station

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Commander Scott Kelly (Expedition 46) shared photographs of a blooming zinnia flower in the Veggie plant growth system aboard the International Space Station (16 January 2016).  “Yes, there are other life forms in space! #SpaceFlower #YearInSpace”, Kelly wrote.

Flowers growing on International Space Station

Flowers growing on International Space Station (Credit: NASA)

This flowering crop experiment began on Nov. 16, 2015, when NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren activated the Veggie system and its rooting “pillows” containing zinnia seeds. The Veggie provides lighting and nutrient delivery, but utilizes the cabin environment for temperaturecontrol and as a source of carbon dioxide to promote growth, according to NASA.

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Lettuce Garden Sent to ISS

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Veggie plant growth chamber

Veggie plant growth chamber (NASA/Bryan Onate)

A transparent plastic growth chamber bound for the International Space Station on the SpaceX-3 resupply mission may help expand in-orbit food production capabilities, and offer astronauts fresh produce.

NASA’s Veg-01 experiment will be used to study the in-orbit function and performance of a new expandable plant growth facility called Veggie. Veggie is a low-cost plant growth chamber that uses a flat-panel light bank that includes red, blue and green LEDs for plant growth and crew observation. Veggie’s unique design is collapsible for transport and storage and expandable up to a foot and a half as plants grow inside it. The roots and nutrients for the plant are contained in plant “pillows”. The investigation will focus on the growth and development of “Outredgeous” lettuce seedlings in the microgravity environment.

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To Grow Where No One Has Grown Before

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NASA's Engineering Design Challenge: Lunar Plant Growth Chamber.

Image Credit: NASA

One often comes across the saying ‘grow a plant, to save this planet’. However we’re now entering the future where the saying would be, ‘grow a plant off this planet, to save humanity’. You might not grasp the meaning at first but it is indeed quite profound. It’s the act that may save the human race from extinction several centuries from today. How? Well its quite simple, if one wants to make any planet even remotely habitable to humans, it is very essential to grow plants there first. Plants are going to be integral to closed habitats which we aim to build on the Moon, Mars and may be even Asteroids!

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