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Lettuce Grown in Space Is Nutritious and Tasty

Crucial Development for Future NASA Missions: Lettuce Grown in Space Is Nutritious and Tasty.

The NASA program is called the Vegetable Production System experiment, or Veggie in short.

Imagine going months on end without tasting fresh, tasty, and nutritious lettuce. For some more vegetable averse people that may sound ideal, however, for the majority of others it would be pretty tough.

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NASA stated the good news that they have successfully managed to grow tasty and healthy romaine lettuce aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Now, astronauts who will partake in NASA's upcoming long term spaceflight missions to the Moon and Mars will be able to munch on fresh, Space-grown lettuce.

The Veggie experiment

Between 2014 and 2016, NASA was growing lettuce on board the ISS to try and see if it was possible for the green leafy vegetable to grow properly and safely in Space. Researchers have proudly stated that this has been possible and that it will pave the way for other vegetables to be grown in Space during NASA's longer missions.

Astronauts grew the lettuce as part of the Vegetable Production System experiment, more commonly known as Veggie.

"[Astronauts] posted photos of lobster salad lettuce wraps that they made and we heard that they ate the lettuce on cheeseburgers and tacos they made out of items available," NASA's Christina Khodadad and Gioia Massa, from the Kennedy Space Center, told Newsweek.

Their findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science today.

The news will no doubt be welcomed with open arms by astronauts the world over. Given most astronauts eat processed or pre-packaged meals during their stint on the ISS, having some fresh produce will be a nice change.

A lot of the packaged food loses its nutritional value over time in Space, so it has been one of NASA's prime focuses to find products that can be grown on the ISS so as to provide astronauts with proper nutrition, as well as keeping their morale high.

Tags: Space, Nasa, Astronauts, Veggie, Science, Kennedy Space Center, Vegetable, meals, Plant , Space Station