Having already grown lettuce (images above) on the International Space Station, astronauts are now attempting to grow the first flowering plants.
On 16th November, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren activated the plant growth system named Veggie
and its rooting “pillows” containing Zinnia seeds.
“Growing a flowering crop is more challenging than growing a
vegetative crop such as lettuce,” said Gioia Massa, NASA Kennedy Space
Center payload scientist for Veggie. “Lighting and other environmental
parameters are more critical.”
Lindgren will turn on the red, blue and green LED lights, activate
the water and nutrient system to Veggie, and monitor the plant growth.
The experimental flowers are expected to bloom early 2016, after 60 days of growth.
“Growing the Zinnia plants will help advance our knowledge of how
plants flower in the Veggie growth system, and will enable fruiting
plants like tomatoes to be grown and eaten in space using Veggie as the
in-orbit garden,” said Trent Smith, Veggie program manager at Kennedy. Growing tomato plants on the space station is
planned for 2017.
Image credit: NASA/Gioia Massa