Kennedy Space Center scientists worked with OSRAM to insert a smart horticulture lighting system prototype into a food production system. The Phytofy RL prototype LED provides similar wavelength capability to a plant growth system currently on orbit. Photofy RL provides another avenue for future investigators conducting flight experiments to perform ground tests prior to flight under similar lighting conditions. The Phytofy RLs have been used to successfully grow microgreens of Wasabi, Tokyo Bekana, Mizuna, Broccoli, Garnet Giant, and Cauliflower.

Shown here are microgreens – a quick-growing, highly nutritious crop – inside the Plant Production Area at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility in Florida on April 17, 2023. The microgreens will be used to make mixes to create complex flavors to help with menu fatigue in space.

jsc2023e065214 (2/7/2023) --- Eighth grade student researchers work on their experiment, Microgreen Growth in Microgravity Environment, which will be included in the Nanoracks-National Center for Earth and Space Science Education-Orbiter-Student Spaceflight Experiments Program Mission 17 to ISS (Nanoracks-NCESSE-Orbiter-SSEP).

jsc2023e065196 (10/26/2023) --- Student researchers Lonappan John and Aadrita Roywork on their experiment, The Changes of Nutritional and Germination values of Sesame Microgreens in Microgravity, which will be included in the Nanoracks-National Center for Earth and Space Science Education-Orbiter-Student Spaceflight Experiments Program Mission 17 to ISS (Nanoracks-NCESSE-Orbiter-SSEP).

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, left, tours a plant research laboratory and samples a microgreen inside the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Aug. 7, 2018. Behind Bridenstine is Bryan Onate, Advanced Plant Habitat project manager. Bridenstine received updates on research and technology accomplishments during his visit to the SSPF.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, far left, tours a plant research laboratory inside the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Aug. 7, 2018. Bridenstine selects a microgreen to sample from Matt Romeyn, project scientist. Behind Bridenstine, from left, are Bryan Onate, Advanced Plant Habitat project manager, and Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana. Bridenstine received updates on research and technology accomplishments during his visit to the SSPF.

jsc2023e065195 (10/19/2023) --- Student researchers Nathan Bohra, Crystal Heidenreich, Savannah Kersey, Ricardo Melendez, Sanjana Rao, and Nichita Scobelev work on their experiment, The Microgreen of the Future: Amaranthus tricolor, which will be included in the Nanoracks-National Center for Earth and Space Science Education-Orbiter-Student Spaceflight Experiments Program Mission 17 to ISS (Nanoracks-NCESSE-Orbiter-SSEP).

Trent Smith, a project manager in the ISS Exploration Research and Technology Program, displays microgreens grown in the same space dirt (arcillite) that is used in the plant pillows for the Veggie plant growth system on the International Space Station and in a 3-D-printed plastic matrix during the 2017 Innovation Expo showcase at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The purpose of the annual two-day event is to help foster innovation and creativity among the Kennedy workforce. The event included several keynote speakers, training opportunities, an innovation showcase and the KSC Kickstart competition.