Astronauts eat space tacos after harvesting Hatch chile peppers on ISS
Astronauts on the Worldwide Area Station have been in for a deal with after they had “house tacos” whereas orbiting the Earth.
On Friday, astronauts harvested the station’s first spherical of Hatch chile peppers and added it their tacos as part of a bigger examine about rising meals throughout lengthy house missions, in keeping with a tweet from the ISS Research account.
The seeds arrived on the station in June and are from the NuMex “Española Improved” pepper. They get their identify from Hatch, New Mexico, the place peppers are largely grown, in keeping with a press release from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
With fajita beef, rehydrated tomatoes, artichokes and Hatch chile as an added bonus, astronaut Megan McArthur tweeted she made the “finest house tacos but.”
Spicing up astronauts’ diets and rising a crop from seed to maturity is an area station first for the Plant Habitat-04 examine.
“It is among the most advanced plant experiments on the station to this point due to the lengthy germination and rising occasions,” Matt Romeyn, principal investigator for PH-04, mentioned in a NASA press release.
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It took roughly 4 months earlier than the astronauts may chow down. The peppers flip crimson when they’re totally ripe however can nonetheless be eaten inexperienced.
In accordance with NASA, the plan is for the astronauts to eat some peppers and ship the remainder again to Earth for evaluation. The peppers shall be harvested once more for the final time later this month.
Since 2015, astronauts have been rising or cultivating crops equivalent to romaine lettuce, zinnias, and Chinese language cabbage.
Comply with reporter Asha Gilbert @Coastalasha. E-mail: [email protected].