{"id":267107,"date":"2025-08-15T04:40:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T18:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/directorates\/smd\/astronauts-plant-seed-pillows-in-new-space-agriculture-study\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T04:40:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T18:40:40","slug":"astronauts-plant-seed-pillows-in-new-space-agriculture-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=267107","title":{"rendered":"Astronauts Plant Seed Pillows in New Space Agriculture Study"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"A<\/a><\/figure>
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A member of the space crop production team prepares materials for Veggie seed pillows inside the Space Systems Processing Facility at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Cory S Huston<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

When the Crew-11 astronauts launched to the International Space Station on August 1, 2025, they carried with them another chapter in space farming: the latest VEG-03 experiments, complete with seed pillows ready for planting.<\/p>\n

Growing plants provides nutrition for astronauts, as well as psychological benefits that help maintain crew morale during missions.<\/p>\n

During VEG-03 MNO, astronauts will be able to choose what they want to grow from a seed library including Wasabi mustard greens, Red Russian Kale, and Dragoon lettuce.<\/p>\n

From Seed to Space Salad<\/strong><\/p>\n

The experiment takes place inside Veggie, a chamber about the size of carry-on luggage. The system uses red, blue, and green LED lights to provide the right spectrum for plant growth. Clear flexible bellows \u2014 accordion-like walls that expand to accommodate maturing plants \u2014 create a semi-controlled environment around the growing area.<\/p>\n

Astronauts plant thin strips containing their selected seeds into fabric \u201cseed pillows\u201d filled with a special clay-based growing medium and controlled-release fertilizer. The clay, similar to what\u2019s used on baseball fields, helps distribute water and air around the roots in the microgravity environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Crew members will monitor the plants, add water as needed, and document growth through regular photographs. At harvest time, astronauts will eat some of the fresh produce while freezing other samples for return to Earth, where scientists will analyze their nutritional content and safety.<\/p>\n

How this benefits space exploration<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Fresh food will become critical as astronauts venture farther from Earth on missions to the Moon and Mars. NASA aims to validate different kinds of crops to add variety to astronaut diets during long-duration space exploration missions, while giving crew members more control over what they grow and eat.<\/p>\n

How this benefits humanity<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The techniques developed for growing crops in space\u2019s challenging conditions may also improve agricultural practices on Earth. Indoor crop cultivation approaches similar to what astronauts do in Veggie might also be adapted for horticultural therapy programs, giving elderly or disabled individuals new ways to experience gardening when traditional methods aren\u2019t accessible.<\/p>\n

Related Resources<\/strong><\/h3>\n

VEG-03 MNO on the Space Station Research Explorer<\/a><\/p>\n

Veggie Vegetable Product System<\/a><\/p>\n

Veggie Plant Growth System Activated on International Space Station<\/a><\/p>\n

About BPS<\/strong><\/h3>\n

NASA\u2019s Biological and Physical Sciences Division<\/strong><\/a> pioneers scientific discovery and enables exploration by\u00a0using space environments to conduct\u00a0investigations\u00a0not possible on Earth.\u00a0Studying biological and physical phenomenon under extreme conditions allows researchers to advance the fundamental scientific knowledge required to go farther and stay longer in space, while also benefitting life on Earth.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the Crew-11 astronauts launched to the International Space Station on August 1, 2025, they carried with them another chapter in space farming: the latest VEG-03 experiments, complete with seed pillows ready for planting. Growing plants provides nutrition for astronauts, as well as psychological benefits that help maintain crew morale during missions. During VEG-03 MNO, [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16191,15651,16347,15597,15598],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biological-physical-sciences","category-international-space-station-iss","category-plant-biology","category-science-research","category-science-mission-directorate"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=267107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267108,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267107\/revisions\/267108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=267107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=267107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=267107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}