File:KSC-04-S-00207 (ksc 070104 plantg).webm

English: Scientists in Kennedy Space Center's Space Life Sciences Lab are growing ordinary salad ingredients in a pretty extraordinary way. But they're not growing the food for themselves -- they're trying to find the best ways to grow plants in space. Plant physiologist Ray Wheeler and his colleagues are experimenting with how plants grow in different kinds of lighting, carbon dioxide levels and temperatures. Radishes, onions, Bibb lettuce and other plants are growing hydroponically, meaning they're cultivated in a nutrient-rich liquid rather than in soil. The scientists are exploring ways that plants could contribute to a bioregenerative life support system. Part of that system would include growing crops to provide food for astronauts on long-duration space missions. The Vision for Space Exploration calls for long journeys to the Moon, Mars and beyond. 'A big issue for undertaking those expeditions in the future will be: How do you provide life support on those missions for the humans on those missions? And providing food and a reliable source of oxygen and CO2 (carbon dioxide) removal and even a water purification system? Plants provide all of this, so I think it's a great fit for the exploration vision for the agency.' Plant research taking place today may benefit tomorrow's space crews, as they explore worlds beyond our own.