Indian-born NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, currently living on the International Space Station (ISS), is on a special mission to grow plants in space! Since June, she has been the commander of the ISS and is starting a unique experiment—growing “outredgeous” romaine lettuce.
Why is she growing lettuce? This experiment, called Plant Habitat-07, will help scientists learn how different amounts of water affect plant growth in space. It’s important because growing food in space can help astronauts during long missions and it can also help with farming challenges on Earth.
By studying the growth patterns and nutritional benefits of this lettuce, Sunita hopes to find ways to improve farming in places where water is limited. If successful, this research might provide astronauts with fresh food while they’re away from Earth and can also teach us how to grow more food using less water back home.
Sunita started her current space mission on June 5 with astronaut Butch Wilmore, but some technical problems kept them stuck in space longer than expected. Now, she plans to remain on the ISS until February 2025 and will return to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. This is her second time being the leader of the ISS!
Leave a Reply