So what does all this mean? Let’s discuss. Well the first thing is that nutritious veggies CAN be grown safely on the ISS. There were no pathogens like E. coli or salmonella that could make the astronauts sick.

But the researchers were a bit surprised that there was more bacteria on the lettuce grown on the ISS. It could be related to some of the environmental characteristics in Veggie. Air circulation in Veggie was sometimes difficult to maintain and bacteria love wet environments. It could also be that bacteria came from the ISS water or air supply. But in reality the amount of bacteria on these lettuce samples was actually lower than what you would find on your produce at the supermarket.

It was a bit odd that the nutrient content was a bit different between years, but plants can respond strongly to changes in the environment. They are living organisms after all.

When we think of growing food in space, we need to make sure that we have a consistent growing environment. For example, watering plants is particularly hard in microgravity. These types of issues need to be solved if we are going to grow food for long missions like going to Mars!