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The first batch of space-ready lettuce is something of a tease for the NASA crew — once harvested, it will be frozen and stored away for testing back on Earth.

The first batch of space-ready lettuce is something of a tease for the NASA crew — once harvested, it will be frozen and stored away for testing back on Earth. No one is allowed to eat anything before the plants are thoroughly vetted for cosmic microbes. These space germs are often fairly benign, akin to the natural bacteria that build up in any moist root bank. Russian crews are allowed to consume vegetables grow on their side of the space station, but microbe standards are strict and unwavering on U.S. space missions. That is the strangest part of the whole article. It's amazing how much science the USSR did on long term space habitation (including growing plants) that just gets ignored by NASA. Unfortunately I can't recall the title, but I read a book on the Soviet space program maybe 10 years ago that detailed all of the progress the USSR made prior to the US SkyLab program, and honestly they were 10-15 years ahead on that stuff compared to NASA.

moocowduckquack 13y ago
I wonder if there is a clandestine trade in Russian veg up there.
- trafficlight 13y ago
  "Just one leaf, man. Just one. I'll do anything you want."
murtali 13y ago
"Russian crews are allowed to consume vegetables grow on their side of the space station" I thought that line was the funniest in the article. I can imagine an image of Vladimir munching his veggies as poor Joe looks on.
Wingman4l7 13y ago
Mary Roach had a bit in her book Packing for Mars about the huge impact fresh food has on astronaut morale. She also included a great anecdote about how some early Russian cosmonauts ended up eating some onion bulbs that were meant for a zero-gravity plant growth experiment: The diary of cosmonaut Valentin Lebedev includes a story about a batch of onion bulbs taken on board Salyut as part of an investigation of plant growth in zero gravity. “As we were unloading the resupply ship, we found some rye-bread and a knife. So we ate some bread. Then we saw the onion bulbs we were supposed to plant. We ate them right then and there, with bread and salt. They were delicious. Time went by and the biologists asked us, ‘How are the onions?’ “‘They are growing,’ we answered…. “‘Do they have shoots?’ Without any hesitation we replied that they even had shoots. There was great excitement at the communication station. Onions have never bloomed in space before! We asked to speak to the head biologist in private. ‘For god’s sake,’ we told him, ‘don’t get upset, we ate your onions.’”
- gexla 13y ago
  Astronauts gone wild. "I don't know about the onions, but the weed grows great up here! We grew enough up here to last for the next few missions!" It's interesting to think how long these veggies could last within human civilization beyond Earth. How would our veggies evolve (only from genetic modification?) Would they be largely immune from disease in this environment? What would be the possibility of them hitting some sort of genetic dead end and us losing our entire supply? Could we create new types of veggies?

moocowduckquack 13y ago

I wonder if there is a clandestine trade in Russian veg up there.

trafficlight 13y ago
"Just one leaf, man. Just one. I'll do anything you want."

murtali 13y ago

"Russian crews are allowed to consume vegetables grow on their side of the space station" I thought that line was the funniest in the article. I can imagine an image of Vladimir munching his veggies as poor Joe looks on.

Wingman4l7 13y ago

Mary Roach had a bit in her book Packing for Mars about the huge impact fresh food has on astronaut morale. She also included a great anecdote about how some early Russian cosmonauts ended up eating some onion bulbs that were meant for a zero-gravity plant growth experiment: The diary of cosmonaut Valentin Lebedev includes a story about a batch of onion bulbs taken on board Salyut as part of an investigation of plant growth in zero gravity. “As we were unloading the resupply ship, we found some rye-bread and a knife. So we ate some bread. Then we saw the onion bulbs we were supposed to plant. We ate them right then and there, with bread and salt. They were delicious. Time went by and the biologists asked us, ‘How are the onions?’ “‘They are growing,’ we answered…. “‘Do they have shoots?’ Without any hesitation we replied that they even had shoots. There was great excitement at the communication station. Onions have never bloomed in space before! We asked to speak to the head biologist in private. ‘For god’s sake,’ we told him, ‘don’t get upset, we ate your onions.’”

gexla 13y ago
Astronauts gone wild. "I don't know about the onions, but the weed grows great up here! We grew enough up here to last for the next few missions!" It's interesting to think how long these veggies could last within human civilization beyond Earth. How would our veggies evolve (only from genetic modification?) Would they be largely immune from disease in this environment? What would be the possibility of them hitting some sort of genetic dead end and us losing our entire supply? Could we create new types of veggies?