Look at this flower. Look well.
Just another orange flower, right? Well, this one, an edible orange zinnia, is harder to grow than lettuce — at least in outer space.
This zinnia has grown and bloomed aboard the International Space Station by US astronaut Scott Kelly, who has been in space for a year.
The main purpose of Kelly’s mission, which is undertaken in partnership with a Russian cosmonaut, Mikhail Korniyenko, is to study the effects of a long-term stay in space.
NASA is growing the flowers and lettuce to learn how to garden in space in micro-gravity conditions. The goal: to be able to colonize Mars one day.
The crop of zinnias was farmed using specially developed “pillows” full of fertilizer, seeds, water, and clay. They are illuminated by LED lights.
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 18, 2016
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