O PAN announced that it is loading finished “one of the most challenging plant experiments tried so far “aboard the orbital laboratory In space. US agency astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) set a new goal: grow red and green pepper.
The “Hatch” pepper seeds arrived at the station in June aboard a trade mission for resupply services from Spacex. The plan is for the crew to eat some of the peppers and send the rest to Earth for analysis, provided that all data indicates that it does not involve damage to the crew.
The estimated growing period for peppers before harvest is about 4 months. It’s the first time NASA astronauts will grow a season’s pepper crop, from seed to maturity. Astronauts prefer spicy or spicy foods because they sometimes lose some of their sense of taste and smell, as a temporary side effect of living in microgravity.
a new challenge
The challenge presented by NASA a few years ago is to have the ability to feed crews in low Earth orbit, without the need for refueling on Earth, to destinations such as the Moon or, eventually, Mars. “We are currently limited to crops that do not require extensive storage or processing.”explains one of the researchers.
NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough began the experiment by inserting 48 seeds into the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH, for its acronym in English) on July 12 this year. The flight engineer, who is part of Expedition 65’s seven-member crew, has previous experience with space cultivation. In 2016 he helped to cultivate “Outredgeous” Roman lettuce in space.
“It’s one of the most complex plant experiments of the season to date due to the long germination and growth times.” said Matt Romeyn, one of the venture’s lead researchers, who also said he had previously tested the fruit’s flowering on Earth “to increase the chances of a successful harvest,” as astronauts will have to pollinate the peppers.
“O APH is the cultivation facility plant’s largest space station and it has 180 sensors and controls to monitor plant growth and the environment,” said Nicole Dufour, project manager for PH-04.
The investigation
Between late 2015 and early 2016, astronauts cultivated Zinnia plants. Before selecting a type of pepper to grow aboard the space station, The researchers spent two years evaluating more than two dozen pepper varieties from around the world. They finally chose a hybrid Hatch pepper, the generic name for several varieties of Hatch pepper, hailing from southern New Mexico.
Peppers are rich (dense) in vitamin C and other nutrients. They have even more vitamin C than some citrus fruits. These characteristics make peppers an excellent candidate for testing on space stations.
“The heat of a pepper is determined by the environmental growing conditions. The combination of microgravity, light quality, temperature and moisture in the root zone will affect the flavor, so it will be interesting to know how the fruit will grow, ripen and taste,” said LaShelle Spencer, scientific team leader for the PH-04 project.
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