Leveraging on LED lights, the International Space Station harvests carrot crops for the first time

According to foreign media CNET, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins has joined the ranks of space "gardeners". She harvested the first carrot crop planted on the International Space Station on November 30. NASA called this a "historical gain."

The astronauts had already grown a variety of vegetables, including lettuce, cabbage, mustard and kale. Although some of them eventually appeared on the menu, many were sent back to Earth for analysis. This is the situation of the 20 carrots collected by Rubins.

These plants are part of an experiment called Plant Habitat-02 (PH-02). "Growing a range of crops helps us determine which plants thrive in microgravity and provide the best variety and nutritional balance for long-term mission astronauts," the project manager Nicole Dufour said in a NASA statement on Wednesday Say.

In the experiment, red, blue, green, and broad-spectrum white LED lights were used to provide a variety of light to stimulate plant growth, and a complex control system to transport water. The camera in the control room and more than 180 sensors NASA researchers monitor plant growth and adjust humidity levels, temperature and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration.

It took 27 days for these crops to reach maturity. NASA has produced a short time-lapse video of their growth.

The space radish wrapped in foil is now placed in the cold storage and will be sent back to Earth next year. The team of advanced plant habitats on earth has been planting a control crop for comparison. Next is another International Space Station crop that starts from seed. The purpose of these plant experiments is to one day provide fresh food for astronauts going to the moon and Mars.