ISS turns into farm as astronauts grow radishes in space for missions to Moon, Mars

The International Space Station (ISS) is a state-of-the-art microgravity laboratory that has served as a platform for many game-changing experiments. These experiments, ranging from studying cancer cells to detergents have advanced the preparation for deep space exploration. Notably, one utterly crucial purpose the ISS serves is that of a space farm, as astronauts have grown several crops that would ensure food security during long-term missions to the Moon and eventually Mars. 

NASA astronauts test plant growth without soil and water

One way of ensuring unlimited food in outer space without relying on cargo carried from Earth can only be done through space farming. However, space farming too has its limitations such as restricted access to fertile soil, water and other important growth media. To overcome this, astronauts aboard the ISS are testing hydroponic and aeroponic methods that enable plant growth using a thin film of a nutrient-rich medium in the absence of soil.

The seven astronauts of the Expedition 67 crew performed similar experiments to grow radishes and mizuna greens through the eXposed Root On-Orbit Test System (XROOTS) programme. This programme is to test plant growth using hydroponic and aeroponic techniques and identify suitable methods to produce crops on a larger scale for future space missions. 

According to NASA, it has been sending plants to space since 1960, however, full-scale research and experiments in microgravity began in the 1990s. Experiments aboard the space shuttle and the space station have exposed plants to the space environment and contributed to the advancement in space farming. During NASA's Gravity Assist podcast in May this year, a postdoc fellow at the Kennedy Space Center, Dr. Christina Johnson, detailed the plants being grown in space that can eventually be eaten on Mars. 

Johnson had said that rice, ginger and sweet potatoes are most likely to be grown on a large scale. Microgravity experiments have revealed that sweet potatoes, along with mizuna, a mustard plant, are relatively easy to grow.