NASA to grow Spanish chilli peppers in space

In December 2017, Paolo Nespoli, an Italian astronaut at the International Space Station (ISS), was missing pizzas from back home and made a point of sharing this with his boss during a live public broadcast. And as a result, his boss sent all the ingredients to make pizza in space. Later, Nespoli and his teammates made a feast out of these ingredients and even shot a video of the whole event and within no time the video went viral. Now, the latest buzz is around NASA, as they are planning to grow Spanish chilli peppers at ISS. If reports are to be believed, early this year, they grew first cotton plant on the moon. And now, they are planning to grow Spanish chilli peppers at the International Space Station (ISS). Read to know more. (Image: Instagram/jazawac)

In a statement, the technical and horticultural scientists at NASA have said that earlier the plan was to grow New Mexico's Hatch peppers, but now they are planning to grow Spanish chilli peppers, because Mexico peppers are spicier and will tickle the taste buds of astronauts. According to experts, the use of Spanish peppers will help increase the nutritional value of the food. (Image: Instagram/lalatinatapasbar)

According to scientists, the idea is to grow a plant that is low on maintenance and grows quickly. Most importantly, the plant needs to have the ability to survive in a high-carbon dioxide environment. And after several tests, chilli pepper was found the aptest food ingredient to begin the process. Also, it has been proven that these chillies are heavily packed with vitamins that help fight space-related health issues that inflict astronauts. Spanish peppers grow at a higher altitude and require less oxygen. (Image: Instagram/boatshedmarket)

According to experts, the project is successful so far and NASA is planning to have them aboard the ISS sometime between November to January.

So far, NASA has managed to grown Chinese cabbage, mizuna mustard, red Russian kale and zinnia flowers on the ISS. On a regular basis, ISS keep sending samples back to the earth to check for the impact of light, quality and fertilizer as well as the nutritional value of produces. They have been testing vegetation production system with different techniques for a longer period.