NASA astronaut successfully harvests Pak Choi plant onboard ISS; see amazing pics

While the International Space Station (ISS) has been dedicated to making the future of space crop production a boon, astronaut crew Michael Hopkins was seen on Tuesday flaunting the nearly full-grown Pak Choi dwarf plants on the space station. NASA crew brings plants onboard the ISS for both aesthetic and practical reasons, according to the space agency, but majorly these Earthly samplings are transported to keep astronauts healthy on long-duration missions. NASA has been exploring ways to grow food in space and assess the space gardening challenges in its Veggie space botany research facility. In a new post shared by International Space Station (ISS), astronaut Hopkins is seen smelling some plants that were previously failing to thrive aboard ISS, so he had reared them personally within the agency’s Vegetable Production System (Veggie). 

“NASA researches crop production in space because plants can provide nutrients to astronaut crews on long-duration missions, such as a mission to Mars,” the space administration explained. Hopkins, who is an Expedition 64 crew member, arrived on ISS for six months to lead scientific efforts onboard the SpaceX Crew-1 mission. He tends to varieties of mustards and lettuces in VEG-03I, one of two Veggie experiments currently growing in orbit. In the images shared by ISS on its official Instagram handle, the astronaut is seen smelling the mustard plants growing in their special “pillows” containing clay-based growth media and fertilizer. 

“This experiment is just really amazing; it shows the skill of the astronauts, the care that they take to do things, and also the differences that you see in microgravity,” Veggie Program Plant Scientist Gioia Massa said. “Fluids behave very differently in space than on the ground. The behavior of fluids – in this circumstance – seems to have helped the plants.”

Ready to harvest

The astronaut had earlier noticed that some of the lettuces were not growing properly, so he started rearing them with inputs from the Veggie program scientist at Kennedy. “Two plant pillows containing ‘Outredgeous’ Red Romaine and ‘Dragoon’ lettuce seeds were germinating slowly, growing well behind the other plants. They would not catch up by harvest time,” NASA informed. Therefore, Hopkins transplanted extra sprouts from thriving plant pillows to grow the dying samplings. “On Earth, this transplant technique is risky for plants in this delicate state, and NASA had never attempted it in a space experiment. But it worked,” the space agency said. The transplants ‘Red Russian’ kale and ‘Extra Dwarf’ pak choi seen in the photographs are now surviving and growing along with the donor kale and pak choi. “The remaining red romaine lettuce and 'Wasabi' mustard in the experiment are also ready for harvest,” NASA updated. 

[The root zone of the red kale is shown during a transplant by NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins. Image Credit: NASA]

[NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins transplants pak choi in the agency’s Vegetable Production System (Veggie) aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA]

[Amara Mustard plants are pictured growing inside the ISS Veggie space botany research facility. Credit: NASA]

[NASA's Matt Romeyn works in the Crop Food Production Research Area. Credit: NASA]

[Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor harvests red Russian kale and dragoon lettuce. Credit: NASA]

[Zinnia plants from the Veggie ground control system are being harvested. Credit: NASA]

[Payload integration engineer with Kennedy's Test and Operations Support Contract, opens the door to the growth chamber of the Advanced Plant Habitat Flight Unit No. 1. Credit: NASA]