There will be a 'vegetable garden' on the ISS station

On July 6, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) embarked on a new phase in an experiment called " Plants ". Accordingly, they will study the possibility of building a greenhouse on the ISS to grow vegetables for interplanetary flights.

Russian news agency ITAR-TASS cited sources from the Russian Space Flight Control Center, saying that two Russian astronauts on ISS now include dismantling equipment for the " Plant- 2 "expired use and installation for a greenhouse on the station a new device and commissioning of this new device.

In the framework of the experiment, Russian and American astronauts will study the cultivation of cosmic vegetables such as beans, lettuce and many other vegetables. For the first time in the history of space research, this international fleet will study gas and soil moisture with the help of special equipment. The main task of astronauts is to determine which equipment and soil conditions will allow you to grow vegetables in weightless conditions.

Currently, the United States has built a device that allows determining the amount of oxygen needed for each type of plant as well as the water permeability of each type of root. Scientists explain trees and humans, they need water and air to grow, but if the humidity is too high it can cause certain plants to " suffocate ".

It is known that the " greenhouse " on the ISS that astronauts are conducting experiments has a modest area of ​​15 cm and 23 cm each. It is for this reason that experts need to conduct experiments to determine the optimal composition of the soil and build technology that can help expand the future vegetable growing area on the ISS station.

Danny Olivas (left) and Jim Reilly are walking in space (Photo: NASA)

* Regarding the ISS station, according to the Associated Press on July 6, the US Space Agency (NASA) has agreed to pay $ 19 million for a Russian sanitary system built on the ISS to install in the section. America's on this station. This price for a toilet is " heavenly " but NASA officials claim it is cheaper if they make it themselves.

According to NASA spokeswoman Lynlette Madison, the construction of a toilet on the expensive ISS equates to building a waste treatment center of a city on Earth. Besides, NASA chose " Russian technology " because the mechanism of the new sanitation system is similar to the current (also Russian-made) sanitation system on ISS, so astronauts The universe will not take time to get used to and adapt.

The new sanitation system has a fan system to extract waste into a container and allow travelers to urinate into hoppers with faucets connected to waste water tanks. Basically, this system is not much different from the sanitation system on Earth, except that it has additional parts to fix the astronauts' legs and thighs every time they have a need. ' personal affairs ". One advantage of the new sanitation system is that it is "more discreet " than the current system on the station.

The new sanitation system is expected to be transferred to the part of the US-managed ISS station in 2008. The old sanitation system remains in the part of the Russian-managed ISS station. NASA said in 2009, the number of troops on ISS will double from the current three to 6, so building a new toilet is necessary. Whenever a transport vessel is launched to deliver equipment and food, water to the ISS, waste containers on the ISS are transferred to the ship before it leaves the station. Transport ships along with these containers as well as waste equipment are then burnt into the Earth's atmosphere.

This $ 19 million sanitation system is part of a $ 46 million larger contract that NASA just signed last week with RSC Energia, a Russian space company. Other provisions of this contract also include updating software for inventory management systems, installing a spare pump and building a support unit to allow shuttles to access and pair with ISS.