Astronauts harvest chili peppers aboard the International Space Station
Astronauts on the International Space Station They celebrated last November, with a taco party, the first crop of chili peppers planted in space. “The best space studs,” said Megan McArthur, a member of the crew. The crop was sown in July as part of some experiments.
This is one of the most complex plant experiments in the orbiting laboratory so far, mainly because chili peppers take much longer to grow than other experimental crops that have been made in space, in which they planted lettuce and radishes.
Furthermore, it is the longest plant experiment in the history of the International Space Station and recently concluded, 137 days after its onset.
The astronauts explained that these crops grew for four months. And, once they bloomed, the crew sanitized them before tasting them and then surveyed their taste and texture. For McArthur, who was in charge of preparing the tacos, they were delicious.
Matt Romeyn, Principal Investigator for PH-04, explained that The reasons for choosing bell peppers for this experiment is that in addition to being rich in vitamin C and other nutrients; astronauts tend to prefer very spicy or seasoned foods as they lose some of their taste and smell as a temporary side effect of living in space.
Part of the peppers were sent back to Earth to be analyzed. The experts explained that these chilies could become milder or hotter depending on the amount of water they receive and how much how living in the absence of gravity, a factor that produces stress in plants, affects them.
“What we learn will inform future growth of crops and food supplementation activities for deep space exploration.”
The other chili peppers harvested in space, They were cooked by the astronauts who made tacos with rehydrated beef fajitas, tomatoes and artichokes.
To date, they have been successfully planted 10 varieties of Space Station crops since 2015 and the astronauts have had the opportunity to test each one of them.
Outer space: the four SpaceX tourists returned to Earth after a three-day voyage
The four billionaire tourists who they traveled to outer space for three days with the company of Elon musk SpaceX returned to Earth after landing successfully in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida, in the United States.
#Internationals Space: SpaceX spacecraft with four Space Station astronauts returned to Earthhttps: //t.co/ebi8DEaCXe pic.twitter.com/wUXBD7t8CF
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