NASA said that astronauts successfully grew radishes on board the International Space Station for the first time in NASA history.
The plants are being placed in cold storage to be examined when astronauts return from the space station in 2021.
NASA says that the radishes reached maturity in 27 days, and are fully edible and nutritious.
“Radishes are a different kind of crop compared to leafy greens that astronauts previously grew on the space station, or dwarf wheat which was the first crop grown in the APH,” said Nicole Dufour, NASA APH program manager at Kennedy Space Center. “Growing a range of crops helps us determine which plants thrive in microgravity and offer the best variety and nutritional balance for astronauts on long-duration missions.”
Growing plants on board could be an important step in order to send astronauts to Mars and beyond. NASA said its encouraged by the results given that radishes are easy for astronauts to maintain.