Scientists harvest 1st vegetables in Antarctic greenhouse
Source: Associated Press
Updated 3:37 pm, Thursday, April 5, 2018
BERLIN (AP) Scientists in Antarctica have harvested their first crop of vegetables grown without earth, daylight or pesticides as part of a project designed to help astronauts cultivate fresh food on other planets.
Researchers at Germany's Neumayer Station III say they've picked 3.6 kilograms (8 pounds) of salad greens, 18 cucumbers and 70 radishes grown inside a high-tech greenhouse as temperatures outside dropped below -20 degrees Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit).
The German Aerospace Center DLR, which coordinates the project, said Thursday that by May scientists hope to harvest 4-5 kilograms of fruit and vegetables a week.
While NASA has successfully grown greens on the International Space Station, DLR's Daniel Schubert says the Antarctic project aims to produce a wider range of vegetables that might one day be grown on Mars or the Moon.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/business/technology/article/Scientists-harvest-1st-vegetables-in-Antarctic-12807451.php
byronius
(7,369 posts)jpak
(41,741 posts)People working in Antarctica eat good canned and frozen veggies - but develop a serious pathological craving for the fresh stuff.
At South Pole - they grow some veggies hydroponically.
At Palmer Station, they get fresh salad greens every 2-3 weeks by ship from Chile.
When it arrives, the cooks make HUGH MASSIVE bowls of salad...when its ready, they make an announcement over the intercom...
"Freshies!"
Everyone drops what they are doing and literally runs to the galley.
Every speck of it is devoured in seconds.
Very strange how our bodies work when our food supply is far away...
nitpicker
(7,153 posts)DW corrected its post to note that, saying that McMurdo Station had already been doing that.