NASA's space chili sets two new records

NASA's space experiment to grow and harvest chili peppers sets the record for providing food for the most astronauts and longest experiment on the ISS.

This is the second time that astronauts have grown chili peppers in space . In November 2021, the crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) used harvested chili peppers to make tacos, served with beef fajita and vegetables.

The ISS crew and the peppers grown on the station. (Photo: NASA).

Matt Romeyn, leader of the research team in the chili experiment, said on December 3 that the NASA crop production team did not think the experiment could set two such records. Chilies grown in space harvest a little later than on Earth. This means that the experiment on the ISS could last another 17 days. The chilli seeds at the center of the Plant Habitat-04 (PH-04) experiment grew for four months before being harvested in October.

The experiment's schedule coincided with a personnel change from Crew-2 to Crew-3, giving many astronauts the opportunity to sample chili peppers, according to Romeyn. Scientists say growing vegetables in space contributes to healthy astronauts.

In a recent experiment, the researchers planned to grow peppers for 120 days. However, the pepper plants grew in 137 days, making it the longest experiment on the ISS. The previous longest experiment took place in 2016 when iridescent chrysanthemums lasted for 90 days. The chili experiment involves taking samples of Hatch peppers from New Mexico, placing them in a growing medium, and learning how to grow the first fruiting plants in space.

Tacos are the favorite food of ISS astronauts after harvesting chili. According to Romeyn, the peppers are very spicy. All signs point to some peppers being hotter due to the effect of microgravity on capsaicin concentrations in chili peppers. Following the success of the PH-04 experiment, at the next planting, the team at the Kennedy Space Center plans to grow dwarf tomatoes and test new green leafy vegetables.