It's a technical job to grow space vegetables that smell like earth.

Original title: The "earth taste" of space vegetables is a technical activity
In recent years, after space breeding, space vegetable cultivation has gradually become an important part of space science and technology development and space technology research. In a recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science, it was revealed that some space vegetables, which go from germination to maturation in a space environment, have similar ingredients to similar vegetables grown on the ground and may even be rich in elements such as potassium, sodium, phosphorus, sulfur and zinc and higher levels of phenols.
Although the results have suddenly brought space vegetables closer to Earth's vegetables, it is not as simple as growing vegetables in space, and it has took scientists around the world years to make the "space garden" a reality.
Man humans are starting to grow vegetables in space
Since 2014, scientists have been working on the International Space Station to create a "surface-like environment" with the same temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide concentrations on the Earth's surface, where hydroponics and sprays are used to grow lettuce. Joa masa, NASA's head of space cooking programs, says the space-breeding program was launched because if food is stored for too long, taste and nutritional value are reduced, vitamins are reduced, and if space-based cooking is successful, it ensures that astronauts have enough nutrients to explore deep space further in the future.
2016, China's astronauts for the first time "electrocuted" space vegetables, in the Tiangong-2 laboratory planted nine lettuce. It's not just leafy vegetables that are being "flipped". In 2019, Chinese researchers once again launched the cultivation of athropomorthyme mustard and rice at Tiangong II to detect the effects of space microgravity on life activities. Previously, Russian cosmonauts have also tried to grow wheat on the Mir space station.
taste nutrition does not lose the earth's vegetables
what is the difference between the crops grown in space and the crops on the earth? This issue has attracted the attention of many space enthusiasts. In 2015, NASA television broadcast the first two astronauts to try space lettuce. The space lettuces, mixed with olive oil and juice, were made into a salad, and the two astronauts called it "unusual" after eating it, with one astronaut also speaking out about the crispy taste, with one astronaut also speaking: "It tastes a bit like sesame seeds."
other than taste, what is the nutritional value of space vegetables? A recent study in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science showed that NASA had thoroughly tested lettuce grown on the International Space Station over the past three years, noting that space lettuce contained essentially the same nutritional value as Earth's lettuce. Scientists say space lettuce also contains elements such as potassium, sodium, phosphorus, sulfur and zinc, in addition to higher levels of phenolic substances, which have previously been shown to have antiviral, anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, the lettuce grown on the International Space Station does not contain any harmful bacteria, such as E. coli, salmonella, etc., fungi and mold spores are also in the normal range, suitable for human consumption.
to solve a series of technical problems
but trying to build a space farm is not easy. In plant growth, light, temperature, humidity, air, soil, 5 elements are indispensable. The space station's air and temperature allow astronauts to live normally, and it's not a problem to meet the plant's survival, but several other conditions have also made it difficult for scientists.
photosynthresitation is fundamental to plant survival, how to simulate the light required by plants in the capsule? "If you want to be a space farmer, you first have to master good technology, and traditional means require 600-1000 watts of light bulbs to simulate sunlight and stimulate plant growth in a closed environment, but such energy consumption and equipment is obviously impossible in the capsule, " said Ichi Jianyi, director of the Baotou Rare Earth Research and Development Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. A
studies have confirmed that plant photoresonality is not intended to absorb all the light in the sun, such as lettuce, which prefers red and blue light. As a result, low-energy, adjustable-spectrum LED lights are a great choice for providing light for space vegetables. When Chinese astronauts first planted lettuce in space, they used a combination of red, green and blue colors, of which green light is to make the visual effect better, good for observation. NASA's space station uses blue-purple light to light vegetables because they grow red-leaf lettuce, which is more likely to color red-leaf lettuce.
the light is not good, to plant vegetables also have to have soil. From the past data, we can learn that china has chosen zircon as the basic raw material when making the soil of space vegetable growth, which is a very common artificial plant growth raw material, which is widely used in plant group cultivation and seedling. Wang Longji, an associate researcher at the Astronaut Center's Environmental Protection Research Office, said that zircon has a very good water absorption, the conduction of water in zircon is very small by gravity, can be absorbed smoothly upward, and zircon density is small, light mass, will not add a great burden to the aircraft. The Mir space station has also cultivated radish and cabbage on the basis of oblique zeolite, which contains potassium, phosphorus, zinc, iron and other elements needed for crop growth, as well as strong adsorption, which can effectively prevent water loss.
humidity is the easiest part to adjust. The space station's water comes all from Earth's recharge, and the water recovery system can collect wastewater and recycle it through a filtration device. Plant soil is installed with water content monitoring device, astronauts can use syringes according to monitoring data to rehydration plants in a timely manner.
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