Some people call me the Space Farmer

Good news and bad news for the NAStronauts flying around in space...their food will not be bland and non-spicy soon.

That'd the good news. Bad news is, they will not be splashing Texas Pete on their packaged dinners.  

NASA has a new initiative cooking to add some pepper to the chow, and like so much else up there, it's all part of a do-it-yourself project. The Lost Planet Airmen and Women aboard the International Space Station are growing red and green chili peppers now. Seeds for Hatch chili peppers arrived at the station in June, carried into space by a SpaceX commercial resupply services mission ("When it absolutely, positively has to be there sometime this month"). 

This was the idea of  astronaut Shane Kimbrough, who just got to the Int'l Space Station in April. He gave it the catchy title "Plant Habitat-04 (PH-04)". Back in 2016, he grew and ate "outredgeous" red romaine lettuce way up there. 

Kimbrough

The setup was, back on earth, staffers at the Kennedy Space Center started 48 seeds in a science carrier, which must look at lot like a science project. The carries is full of clay where roots can sink and fertilizer on a time-release basis.  There are these three slots aboard called the the Advanced Plant Habitat.

"The APH is the largest plant growth facility on the space station and has 180 sensors and controls for monitoring plant growth and the environment," said project manager Nicole Dufour. "It is a diverse growth chamber, and it allows us to help control the experiment from Kennedy, reducing the time astronauts spend tending to the crops."

Back to the hot stuff...it will take about four months for the peppers to grow before they are harvested and eaten. This will be the first ever Pepper In Space. The crew will grind on some and bring the rest back to earth for analysis.

Principal investigator Matt Romeyn says, "It is one of the most complex plant experiments on the station to date because of the long germination and growing times. We have previously tested flowering to increase the chance for a successful harvest because astronauts will have to pollinate the peppers to grow fruit."

He also adds that "We are limited to crops that don't need storage, or extensive processing."

  

Because of living in microgravity, astronauts tend to lose their taste of sense and smell, so a little pepper in the menu might bring those senses back.

"Growing colorful vegetables in space can have long-term benefits for physical and psychological health," Romeyn said. "We are discovering that growing plants and vegetables with colors and smells helps to improve astronauts' well-being."

Remember, we talked about the problem of doing laundry in space not long ago. Maybe losing the sense of smell is not the worst thing in the world.