Vegetables in space? Radishes are harvested on the ISS: Watch a video
Recommended for Middle Grades
Are there vegetables in space? Yes, a while ago, we read about lettuce being grown on the International Space Station (ISS).
Recently, astronauts also harvested some radishes they grew on the station.
Radishes are the latest type of fresh vegetables in space to be successfully grown and harvested where there is no gravity. Till now, about 15 types of vegetables have been grown on the ISS. They include lettuce, Chinese cabbage, lentils and mustard.
The astronauts also took out and carefully packed around 20 radish plants. These will be taken back to Earth next year, to be studied.
NASA scientists are also growing radishes on Earth. They will be compared with the ones grown on the ISS. This will help scientists better understand what nutrients the plants would need to survive on longer space journeys.
Now that this batch is done, the astronauts are growing more radishes to be harvested again in the future. Radishes are nutritious and do not take much time to grow. This makes them suitable as a food option for longer space journeys in the future.
Fresh food is not only good for the body but will also help astronauts feel like they are getting a “taste of home” as they go on long trips into deep space.
Radishes grow fast, but maybe not this fast! Check out one month of @Space_Station radish growth in 10 seconds.⏱️
Radishes are used for the Plant Habitat-02 study because they're nutritious, grow quickly and are genetically similar to Arabidopsis, a plant often studied in space. pic.twitter.com/f3c8urlCei— ISS Research (@ISS_Research) December 1, 2020
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