[ad_1]
NASA astronaut Megan McArthur with her chile taco. Credits: Megan McArthur/Twitter.
The chile paper was grown in space as a part of Plant Habitat – 04, NASA’s series of experiments to grow food crops in space.
On Saturday, October 30, astronauts aboard the International Space Station tasted the first-ever chile peppers crop grown in space. Sharing pictures of the space-grown food, NASA astronaut Megan McArthur tweeted, “Finally, I made my best space tacos yet: fajita beef, rehydrated tomatoes, artichokes, and hatch chile!” The chile paper was grown in space as a part of Plant Habitat – 04, NASA’s series of experiments to grow food crops in space, a feat that can make long-duration space missions sustainable. The first picture shows a taco floating near McArthur’s mouth. In a closer look in the second picture, the fillings of the taco can be seen. Among the squishy tomatoes and other fillings, freshly cut green chile peppers stand out. In another picture, McArthur displays her space crop harvest — five chile peppers standing on a floor. The pictures mark the success of the chile pepper’s cultivation experiment, which according to the ISS Research, is “one of the most challenging station plant experiments to date.” After having their ‘space tacos’, astronauts filled out surveys to collect the data of the experiment, McArthur said in her tweet. The chile peppers remaining after astronauts have tasted them will be sent back to earth for further study.
Friday Feasting! After the harvest, we got to taste red and green chile. Then we filled out surveys (got to have the data! 😁). Finally, I made my best space tacos yet: fajita beef, rehydrated tomatoes & artichokes, and HATCH CHILE! https://t.co/pzvS5A6z5u pic.twitter.com/fJ8yLZuhZS— Megan McArthur (@Astro_Megan) October 29, 2021
The other fillings of the space tacos were not prepared in space and were either brought by astronauts during their journey to the ISS or were sent by NASA in resupply mission rockets. For more than 20 years, NASA astronauts have lived and worked in space and had packaged foods with the occasional fresh meals arriving on the cargo deliveries. While the space missions store food very efficiently by freeze-drying them and using other means of preservation, the essential nutrients — Vitamin C or Vitamin K — deteriorate over time, a problem that raises concerns for astronauts’ health on longer future missions such as to the moon or Mars. Growing and eating space-grown food is not something new for the astronauts aboard the ISS. Astronauts have been successful in growing and eating 10 different crops in orbit. However, growing chile peppers, which are rich in Vitamin C, was the most complex crop experiment aboard the ISS because of the “long germination and growing times” of the plant.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Telegram.
[ad_2]
Source link