In situ growth of fresh, nutritious, and palatable crops for crew consumption during spaceflight is being pursued by NASA for incorporation in long-duration spaceflight. Crew grown food provides a range of replenishable bioavailable nutrients and is capable of supplementing nutrients that degrade to inadequate levels in the stored diet during long duration missions. Fresh grown crops may also positively enhance the astronaut diet experience, provide caloric replacement, and reduce mass and volume requirements of the astronaut food system. Recent work on the International Space Station using the Veggie vegetable production unit, a low mass, low energy plant growth facility has been successful in demonstrating growth and safe consumption of various leafy green crops in spaceflight. The first sanctioned crew consumption of in situ grown crops on ISS occurred in 2015, when Outredgeous red romaine lettuce was grown in Veggie. Numerous cultivars of leafy greens have been tested since. In 2020 dwarf tomatoes will be grown in the Veggie hardware and will be the first berries grown in space. Incorporation of in situ grown crops in future deep space missions will require improvements to system sustainability, mastery of microgravity and reduced gravity water management, identification of crops that best meet nutritional and acceptability requirements, insights into possible adverse impacts to seeds and plants from increased radiation exposure beyond low earth orbit, and enhanced understanding of plant-microbe interactions.

In situ grown crops as a supplement to the astronaut diet

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.