International Space Station to grow tomatoes, SpaceX will carry the seeds

After the aborted first attempt, SpaceX is carrying a fresh haul of supplies to the International Space Station ISS. The seeds on board the mission include an assortment of dwarf tomato seeds apart from a range of science experiments. There will also be treats for the astronauts on the space station. Some of these are ice cream and Thanksgiving fare like spicy green beans, cranberry apple desserts, pumpkin pie and candy corn. The broad plan is to install the solar arrays outside the floating laboratory during spacewalks. The tentative dates are November 29 and December 3 and they will give the space station a power boost. SpaceX has been working hand in hand with NASA and has undertaken more than two dozen resupply missions to the ISS over the past decade. It was part of a multibillion-dollar deal with NASA. This year happens to be the busiest year to date for SpaceX, with more than 50 operations so far. These include two astronaut missions. SpaceX launches tomato seeds, other supplies to International Space StationThere are a number of health-related items on board. One of these is the Moon Microscope Kit. It is a portable handheld microscope for astronauts to collect and send images of blood samples to flight surgeons on the ground for diagnostics and treatment.

Incidentally, nutrients are a key component for maintaining good health in space. However, the astronauts seldom get fresh items and have to survive with prepackaged meals during their six-month stays in low-Earth orbit. Astronauts have already grown and tasted different types of vegetables like lettuce, radishes and chiles on the International Space Station. Now, they could add some dwarf tomatoes — specifically, Red Robin tomatoes — to their list of space-grown salad ingredients. This experiment is part of an effort to provide continuous fresh food production facilities in space. The tomatoes are expected to be ready for their first taste test in the spring. Half of each tomato harvest will be frozen and returned to Earth for analysis.

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