Astronauts harvest first samples of lettuce from International Space Station

The Washington Post
August 15, 2015 at 3:56AM
NASA gives its audience on Earth a glimpse of lettuce grown in the first vegetable garden in space. Illustrates SPACE (category a), by Rachel Feltman (c) 2015, The Washington Post. Moved Monday, Aug. 10, 2015. (MUST CREDIT: NASA: Space Station Live.)
NASA gives its audience on Earth a glimpse of lettuce grown in the first vegetable garden in space. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

A group of astronauts harvested the first samples of lettuce grown on the International Space Station.

Then they ate it.

The NASA experiment, called Veg-01, will help scientists determine the feasibility of fresh-grown food for long-term space missions, like ones that would send astronauts to Mars.

This isn't the first batch of lettuce grown. The first round of romaine was sent down to Earth and tested for safety. So, no, we shouldn't be worried that the space lettuce will do anything freaky to our astronauts.

Half the new crop will be served up with some oil and vinegar. Some day soon, astronauts could count on a more ready supply of these space veggies.

Washington Post

about the writer

about the writer

More from No Section

See More
FILE -- A rent deposit slot at an apartment complex in Tucker, Ga., on July 21, 2020. As an eviction crisis has seemed increasingly likely this summer, everyone in the housing market has made the same plea to Washington: Send money — lots of it — that would keep renters in their homes and landlords afloat. (Melissa Golden/The New York Times) ORG XMIT: XNYT58
Melissa Golden/The New York Times

It’s too soon to tell how much the immigration crackdown is to blame.