To support astronauts on longer-duration missions farther away from Earth, NASA needs to figure out how to provide them with a continuous supply of nutritious food. The freeze-dried foods astronauts currently eat won’t cut it, as key nutrients in these meals gradually break down.
The Vegetable Production System, or Veggie, is one potential solution to that problem. Veggie is a suitcase-sized system used to grow plants onboard the International Space Station. It has produced three types of lettuce so far, and NASA researchers determined that one variety (red romaine) was as nutritious as its Earth-grown equivalent. A challenge for the Agency as it moves forward with the system will be to control onboard microbial contamination.
The International Space Station and other space vessels are sensitive environments. Bacteria and fungi that get carried onboard by incoming astronauts are generally non-threatening, but the wrong strain or a burst of growth could endanger the crew’s health or compromise critical equipment. NASA keeps a constant eye on microbial conditions in the space station — and in particular, the Agency is closely monitoring patterns of microbial growth on the Veggie system.
“If the crew consumes food contaminated with pathogenic organisms, they could become ill,” NASA Senior Scientist Dr. Cherie Oubre said in an Agency press release. “Or, if plant growth systems become contaminated with plant pathogens, the crops could be compromised or fail. To prepare, we must assess Veggie’s vulnerabilities and carefully monitor it.”
Astronauts on board the space station contribute to the Veggie monitoring project by swabbing different components of the system, incubating any microbes they’ve picked up on growth media slides, and then analyzing and making a record of the organisms that have colonized the slides.
Sampling began in 2019 and is ongoing. By creating a record of microbial activity through time, NASA researchers will be able to analyze growth patterns, and respond to potential problems in future plant production system designs.
Technologies developed by NASA have found applications in industries on Earth in the past. Design adaptations that the Agency develops to ward off contamination in the Veggie system could eventually prove useful in emerging food tech spaces like indoor farming and cultivated meat production.
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