Offworld Botany: Plant Habitat-07 On-orbit Experiment Reveals Impact of Water Stress on Lettuce Plants
During his long stay aboard the ISS Astronaut Butch Wilmore tended the Advanced Plant Habitat experiment (known as PH-07) and returned with the science specimens on Crew-9.
Water stress caused by too much or too little water can be extremely detrimental to plants – in space and on Earth. To help NASA develop strategies to mitigate water stress in space crops, the Plant Habitat-07 (PH-07) investigation looked at the impact of water stress on lettuce grown under drought, flood, wilt, and control conditions on the ISS. The sample will be analyzed by Principal Investigator Dr. Gioia Massa to determine the impact of water stress on the plants and associated microbiome.
The science specimens included lettuce leaves, roots, and water samples that were collected during three separate plant growth experiments in the ISS Advanced Plant Habitat (APH). Results from PH-07 will help NASA understand and overcome the challenges associated with watering plants in space. This knowledge is critical for growing space crops as a sustainable source of renewable, fresh food on long-duration missions on the Moon and Mars, providing nutrients and variety for the crew and contributing to the crew’s mental well-being.
Dr. Gioia Massa
This project is supported through a Space Biology grant titled “Spaceflight Microbiome of a Food Crop Grown Using Different Substrate Moisture Levels” to Dr. Gioia Massa at NASA Kennedy Space Center.
PH-07 Preflight Harvest Space crop production scientist Oscar Monje harvests Outredgeous romaine lettuce for preflight testing of the Plant Habitat-07 (PH-07) experiment inside a laboratory at the Space Systems Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. PH-07 will be sent to the International Space Station on NASA’s SpaceX 31st commercial resupply services mission to study how optimal and suboptimal moisture conditions impact plant growth, nutrient content, and the plant microbiome. — NASA
Advanced Plant Habitat, NASA
Astrobiology, space biology
