SpaceX Finally Carries New Supply Haul to Feed Astronauts in ISS

A commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station was launched by SpaceX on Saturday from Cape Canaveral. The mission's objectives include providing supplies, equipment, and scientific studies.

According to CNN, the mission departed from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at around 2:20 PM ET on Saturday. Tuesday had been the scheduled launch day.

BRITAIN-HEALTH-VIRUS-RETAIL — A shopper wearing a protective face mask selects a bowl of tomatoes as he shops at an outdoor street market in Walthamstow, east London on May 28, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. - Britain has suffered the highest death rate from the coronavirus among the most-affected countries with comparable tracking data, according to Financial Times research published Thursday. TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images

The mission was SpaceX's 26th commercial resupply trip. The Dragon cargo spaceship was launched by a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX Spacecraft to Stay Connected to ISS For 1 Month

According to NASA (per WIONews), the spacecraft will stay connected to the ISS for a month in orbit. With research and return cargo, it will come back to Earth. The plane will crash into the water off the Florida coast.

Numerous goods, including tomato seeds and the Moon Microscope kit, will be transported by the Dragon to the space station for scientific investigations.

One of the biggest attractions will continue to be iROSAs. Two International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays were erected in 2021 to benefit the uninitiated. According to NASA, "These solar panels, which roll out using stored kinetic energy, expand the energy-production capabilities of the space station."

The US-based space agency added that when the second pair is deployed, it will offer a 20 percent to 30 percent boost in power for research and operations on the space station.

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Tomatoes in Space

A vital part of preserving health in space is nutrition. However, fresh food is scarce aboard the space station compared to the prepared meals astronauts consume during their six-month stints in low-Earth orbit.

Astronauts have grown and sampled wide varieties of lettuce, radishes, and chilies on the International Space Station. ABC7 Chicago said the crew may now add some dwarf tomatoes, Red Robin tomatoes, to their list of components for salads produced in space.

The experiment is a component of a project to produce fresh meals continuously in space.

The dwarf tomato seeds will be grown under two different light conditions to assess the effects on the number of tomatoes that may be collected and the nutritional value and flavor of the plants. As a comparison, Red Robin tomatoes will also be cultivated on Earth. The two crops will be contrasted to assess the impact of a zero-gravity environment on tomato development.

The Vegetable Production System, also known as the Veggie growing chamber, aboard the space station will be used to produce the tomatoes in tiny bags called plant pillows. The plants will receive regular care and watering from the astronauts.

In the spring, the tomatoes will be prepared for their initial taste test.

After the plants start to develop, the team anticipates tomato harvests 90, 97, and 104 days later. The team will score the flavor, fragrance, juiciness, and texture of the tomatoes produced utilizing the various light treatments during taste testing. Each tomato harvest will have half of its produce frozen and sent back to Earth for examination.

Although the gear for increased food production on the space station and possibly other planets is still being developed, scientists are already thinking about whether plants may thrive on the moon and Mars. Earlier this year, a team successfully cultivated seedlings in lunar soil that contained Apollo mission soil samples.