Question: Can plants go to space?

Luke Fountain answered on 3 Apr 2025:

Yes, plants absolutely can go to space! We have been growing plants in space since the 1970s, on different space stations like Russia’s MIR space station and more recently the International Space Station, as well as on the Space Shuttle before it was retired in 2011.

We currently have two large plant growth facilities on the International Space Station operated by NASA, called Veggie (the vegetable production system) and the APH (Advanced Plant Habitat). Me and my team at Kennedy Space Center are responsible for the science that goes up to these plant growth systems, as well as conducting research on the ground to help identify crop species and varieties that are adapted to the spaceflight environment, and to figure out the best ways to sustainably grow crops on the Moon and Mars.

We have grown many different types of plants in space, including lettuce, pak choi, mustard, radish, chilli peppers, tomatoes, wheat, and flowers like zinnias. There are lots of challenges remaining, but our goal is to allow astronauts to grow their own food on future missions to ensure they have a supply of fresh, nutritious food that both tastes and looks good – we want the astronauts to want to eat the food, and it helps their mental wellbeing if they have good food that they enjoy eating.