NASA Plant Biology Research
Did you know that astronauts are growing plants in space right now? Not just for research, but also to eat!
Here is a photo of astronauts eating plants that they grew in space as part of the veg-01B experiment on the ISS. This photo is from the NASA image archives.
Researchers at NASA are looking at how fresh plants can fill nutritional gaps in the prepackaged spaceflight diet. One of the plants I spent a lot of time researching is called microgreens. It hasn't been grown in space yet, but it's a lot closer to being ready. Here's a link to a blog post I wrote with more detail on nutrition.
Measuring Mass
One of the basic measurements we make on plants is mass. We do this on Earth by weighing the plants on a scale. Here's a photo of some cute little young crop plants being precisely weighed on a scientific balance. This photo was taken by me on Earth.
The scale astronauts use to measure the mass of plants on the ISS is called a mass measurement device. Here's a diagram.
Here's a link with more info on this technology! https://flightopportunities.ndc.nasa.gov/technologies/158/
Want to learn more about the research NASA does in the field of Plant Biology?
Here's a link!
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