This week something crazy-important happened, guys. I mean, crazy-important. Some dudes ate some lettuce. While men eating lettuce is rare enough for some reason, guess what?
They're eating it in space.
Now I know what you're thinking; that's not terribly important. Well, hold on to your hats, friends, because not only are astronauts eating fresh red Romaine lettuce in space, but said lettuce actually grew in space.
LOL at Scott Kelly's face though. He's all "This lettuce is fantastic!!!"
Astronauts Scott Kelley and Kjell Lindgren of NASA and astronaut Kimiya Yui of the JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) got to taste the fruits — or should we say vegetables — of their labor. For the past 33 days, these gentlemen have been tending to the plants and recording as much information on their growth as possible. They made sure to set aside a hearty helping for the research center on earth as well as a sample for their Russian comrades who were outside fixing up the International Space Station on a five-hour spacewalk.
This NASA experiment, very appropriately labeled VEG-01 is a big milestone for research that will help astronauts travel to Mars. Mars, guys. Being able to grow our own food in space is a big deal. Who's to say where we can't go when we have a fresh food supply to support ourselves in the cold unknown? Also think of how nice it'll be to have options up there that aren't dehydrated meals? That alone should be exciting for our friends in space. I'm sure it's nice to have a taste of home when you're up there all alone for months at a time. Scott Kelly can attest to that, as he is only around halfway through his year-long mission in space. This and the research gathered on Scott himself will help NASA see how well humans can adapt to long space travel, bringing us back to our main Martian goal.
Look at that fine-looking plant. That'd make one heck of a salad, IN SPACE!
How did they do it? By using a complex LED lighting system that makes sure the plants get the same amount of light that they would need to thrive on Earth. The red and blue LEDs within the system are the primary lights, while a green LED is added so the astronauts can see the plant develop better and record their data. The idea for using LEDs for plant growth in space has been around since the mid '90s, but now it's been perfected! How crazy is that, guys?!
This crunchy bit of news has gotten surprisingly little press considering how important it is. I mean seriously guys, we can grow food in space!!!
Don't tell me you wouldn't eat some space tomatoes in a heartbeat. Unless of course you don't like tomatoes. Maybe space tomatoes taste better? Now we can find out!
Next time you look up at the great big blue sky, maybe give a shout-out to our boys up on the ISS for Expedition 44. They're doing some pretty rad work up there that's 100 percent worth talking about.
What do you think about a mission to Mars? Would you eat space lettuce? If you could grow anything in space what would it be? Tell us in the comments! We'd love to know.
