CANADA: NASA astronaut and Space Station crew member Kjell Lindgren set up a plant growth experiment Monday that could yield the first flowers (in this case, zinnias) ever grown onboard the space laboratory, according to NASA.
The flowers are part of the veggie plant growth system, an experiment designed to grow various kinds of plants on the Space Station. This kind of research is necessary because if humans are going to push farther into space — to destinations like Mars — then astronauts will need a way to cultivate food for themselves without relying on shipments from Earth.
In August, Lindgren, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and NASA’s Scott Kelly sampled some lettuce grown on the station as part of this experiment. The three astronauts dressed the red romaine with a little vinegar and oil before chowing down on the harvest.
“Growing a flowering crop is more challenging than growing a vegetative crop such as lettuce,” Gioia Massa, a NASA scientist working with Veggie said in a statement.
“Lighting and other environmental parameters are more critical.”
Scientists are hoping to learn more about how the flowering plants grow in the microgravity of the ISS. By growing the zinnias, the space agency aims to collect data on how pollen behaves in the somewhat closed environment of the station, while learning more about how the flowers affect “crew morale.”
