WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:02.502 What do I do with my hands, OK? 2 00:00:02.502 --> 00:00:04.904 [UPBEAT MUSIC] Hey everyone, welcome to Snack Time with NASA. 3 00:00:04.938 --> 00:00:06.973 I'm your host, Kathleen Gaeta. 4 00:00:06.973 --> 00:00:09.542 Now, we've been exploring all the ways that NASA helps 5 00:00:09.542 --> 00:00:11.544 get some of your favorite foods onto your plate. 6 00:00:11.811 --> 00:00:15.148 And so far, all of those foods have been down here on Earth, obviously. 7 00:00:15.348 --> 00:00:16.583 But we're NASA, right? 8 00:00:16.583 --> 00:00:20.987 So while we may not be professional chefs, we do know a thing or two about space. 9 00:00:21.454 --> 00:00:24.391 That's why today we'll be learning what it takes to grow food 10 00:00:24.424 --> 00:00:28.161 two hundred miles above our heads onboard the International Space Station. 11 00:00:28.561 --> 00:00:29.529 And later, we'll hear 12 00:00:29.529 --> 00:00:33.333 how the space station helps us monitor the health of plants down here on Earth. 13 00:00:33.633 --> 00:00:34.734 So let's get into it. 14 00:00:34.734 --> 00:00:37.303 As you can see, I have a nice haul of greens right in front of me. 15 00:00:37.470 --> 00:00:41.041 Some romaine lettuce, some bok choy, radishes, micro greens. 16 00:00:41.541 --> 00:00:44.210 Now, I got all these ingredients for my local grocery store. 17 00:00:44.344 --> 00:00:47.547 But actually, every single one of these plants is grown onboard the ISS. 18 00:00:48.014 --> 00:00:51.785 And here to help explain how that happens is Matt Romeyn, Project Scientist 19 00:00:51.785 --> 00:00:54.721 at the Kennedy Space Center. Matt, thank you so much for being here. 20 00:00:54.721 --> 00:00:58.258 How's it going? Matt: Oh it's going good, glad to be here Kathleen. 21 00:00:58.391 --> 00:01:01.161 Kathleen: So you sent me a list of vegetables that you work with, 22 00:01:01.161 --> 00:01:03.329 and I'm wondering how you go about choosing 23 00:01:03.329 --> 00:01:06.199 which foods to grow up in space? 24 00:01:06.199 --> 00:01:10.370 Matt: We have to do a lot of crop screening. We're able to screen these crops and test them at our growth chambers 25 00:01:10.370 --> 00:01:13.039 at Kennedy Space Center that are able to replicate the environmental conditions 26 00:01:13.039 --> 00:01:15.875 on the International Space Station, except for microgravity. 27 00:01:18.211 --> 00:01:20.713 We're looking for how productive they grow, growth for compact 28 00:01:20.713 --> 00:01:24.751 morphologies and crops that are nutritious and flavorful. 29 00:01:24.751 --> 00:01:27.720 Kathleen: OK, I have to ask, have you ever grown potatoes in space? 30 00:01:29.322 --> 00:01:33.493 Matt: Well, we've been growing crops recently on ISIS - last five years or so. 31 00:01:33.693 --> 00:01:36.830 We haven't had potatoes recently, but in the past we've done them 32 00:01:36.830 --> 00:01:37.931 on the shuttle program 33 00:01:37.931 --> 00:01:40.400 and we have grown them extensively on the ground at Kennedy Space Center. 34 00:01:41.201 --> 00:01:44.804 Kathleen: I will eat a space potato in my lifetime, I promise you that. 35 00:01:45.105 --> 00:01:48.541 Anyways, so you suggested I pick up some bok choy and mustard 36 00:01:48.541 --> 00:01:51.811 greens, and I can't say those are typical salad ingredients for myself. 37 00:01:51.945 --> 00:01:54.247 Matt: The bok choy is interesting because the crew recently 38 00:01:54.247 --> 00:01:57.550 grew and got to eat that on the ISS and they really enjoyed it. 39 00:01:58.051 --> 00:02:00.420 They actually found a way to cook it, using their food warmer 40 00:02:00.887 --> 00:02:04.557 and combining some garlic paste, soy sauce, and bit of olive oil. 41 00:02:05.492 --> 00:02:08.995 The mustard greens are great because they have a lot of strong flavors. 42 00:02:09.295 --> 00:02:12.332 And when you're an astronaut on the ISS, with the microgravity, 43 00:02:12.332 --> 00:02:14.234 you have a diminished sense of taste and smell. 44 00:02:14.234 --> 00:02:16.970 So they like those bolder flavors that kind of punch through there. 45 00:02:18.004 --> 00:02:19.672 Kathleen: Wow. I did not know that. 46 00:02:19.672 --> 00:02:24.410 And now, do you also grow the same plants that you're growing in space down at KSC? 47 00:02:24.577 --> 00:02:28.081 Matt: Yeah, well, we're growing plants in space on ISS, we also have ground controls 48 00:02:28.081 --> 00:02:29.215 at KSC that 49 00:02:29.215 --> 00:02:32.852 replicate the exact conditions on the ISS - the temperature, humidity, the CO2 50 00:02:32.852 --> 00:02:37.824 levels, we can control for everything but the microgravity element. 51 00:02:37.857 --> 00:02:40.527 Kathleen: Ok, and I assume that so that you can more closely monitor 52 00:02:40.527 --> 00:02:43.396 the difference of plants growing in space versus on Earth. 53 00:02:43.696 --> 00:02:46.933 What have you discovered in that process? 54 00:02:46.933 --> 00:02:49.702 Matt: Well, we find that plants, for the most part, grow similar in space as on Earth. 55 00:02:50.103 --> 00:02:52.272 A big variable is the water. 56 00:02:52.272 --> 00:02:56.309 There's a lack of convective flow in space, and that makes water very 57 00:02:56.309 --> 00:02:59.913 sticky. Plants like a good mix of water and oxygen in their root zone. 58 00:02:59.913 --> 00:03:03.149 And when we have water that doesn't mix well with 59 00:03:03.149 --> 00:03:06.653 oxygen, we get a lot of swinging back and forth between 60 00:03:06.653 --> 00:03:09.422 the roots being flooded and being in a state of drought. 61 00:03:10.256 --> 00:03:12.258 We have technologies that are working on that. 62 00:03:12.258 --> 00:03:14.294 To solve that problem of microgravity. 63 00:03:14.294 --> 00:03:17.730 Luckily, when we get to Mars and the moon, those problems mostly go away. 64 00:03:18.831 --> 00:03:22.402 Kathleen: Got it. And so talk to me about this little space garden 65 00:03:22.435 --> 00:03:24.971 I keep hearing of - the VEGGIE Growth System. What is that? 66 00:03:25.104 --> 00:03:27.607 Yeah, the VEGGIE. We've got two of those on ISS, 67 00:03:27.607 --> 00:03:29.175 And it's a real simple system. 68 00:03:29.175 --> 00:03:32.111 It's about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage. 69 00:03:32.645 --> 00:03:36.149 It uses LED lighting and has six little plant pillows in there 70 00:03:36.149 --> 00:03:40.420 that are filled with growth medium, which is basically a soil substitute. 71 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:43.323 And that's how we're able to grow and propagate the plants on the ISS. 72 00:03:45.525 --> 00:03:46.859 Kathleen: That's so interesting. 73 00:03:46.859 --> 00:03:49.762 The vision of a space garden just brings a lot of joy to me 74 00:03:49.762 --> 00:03:51.164 and I'm sure a lot of people. 75 00:03:51.164 --> 00:03:53.866 Anyway, so is there a plant that you're kind of the most excited 76 00:03:53.866 --> 00:03:55.702 about trying to grow in space? 77 00:03:55.702 --> 00:03:56.903 Matt: Definitely peppers. 78 00:03:56.903 --> 00:04:00.807 We actually just sent chili peppers to ISIS, that will be grown in the summer, 79 00:04:00.807 --> 00:04:04.310 and we're excited about peppers because they are very challenging. 80 00:04:04.410 --> 00:04:06.479 They take a long time to germinate. 81 00:04:06.512 --> 00:04:09.082 They take a long time to grow, about 120 days. 82 00:04:09.983 --> 00:04:11.985 And there's a real challenge with the flavor. 83 00:04:12.018 --> 00:04:15.021 If we were to overwater them, they taste 84 00:04:15.421 --> 00:04:18.524 like grass clippings. If we under water, 85 00:04:18.524 --> 00:04:20.660 and we stress out a lot, they're really spicy. 86 00:04:21.027 --> 00:04:24.130 So we're trying to really control to grow healthy plants 87 00:04:24.130 --> 00:04:27.533 and flavorful plants that the crew wants to eat and enjoy. 88 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:30.036 Kathleen: Right. And you know what they say, if you can't take the heat, 89 00:04:30.036 --> 00:04:32.272 get off the space station, right? 90 00:04:32.272 --> 00:04:34.974 Just kidding, that's my dad joke of the day! 91 00:04:35.008 --> 00:04:36.843 Well anyways, Matt I can't thank you enough for being here. 92 00:04:36.843 --> 00:04:38.678 [Bark] I learned a lot, and I hope you all did as well. 93 00:04:38.678 --> 00:04:42.348 And I can't wait to hear what you grow in space next! Matt: Thank you. 94 00:04:42.348 --> 00:04:46.819 [Bark] Kathleen: Shut your little door, Buoy 95 00:04:48.354 --> 00:04:50.156 So now that we know more about crops 96 00:04:50.156 --> 00:04:52.292 aboard the space station, what about the crops 97 00:04:52.292 --> 00:04:55.061 we study from the space station that live down here on Earth? 98 00:04:55.361 --> 00:04:58.665 And for that, Christine Lee, Applications Lead for the ECOSTRESS 99 00:04:58.665 --> 00:05:00.166 mission is here to talk to us. 100 00:05:00.166 --> 00:05:02.435 Hey, Christine, thank you for being here. 101 00:05:02.435 --> 00:05:04.337 Christine: Hi. Thank you. Glad to be here. 102 00:05:04.337 --> 00:05:07.173 I was just talking with Matt about how the VEGGIE Lab on 103 00:05:07.173 --> 00:05:10.943 the ISS helps us better understand how plants grow in microgravity. 104 00:05:11.110 --> 00:05:14.180 And that's inspired all of the ingredients here for the salad. 105 00:05:14.781 --> 00:05:16.182 But I also know that instruments 106 00:05:16.182 --> 00:05:19.852 on the ISS help us better understand how plants grow down on Earth. 107 00:05:20.119 --> 00:05:21.654 I'm wondering how that is? 108 00:05:21.654 --> 00:05:26.926 Christine: Well, the instrument and projects that I work on, the Ecosystem Spaceborne 109 00:05:26.926 --> 00:05:31.097 Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station, also known as ECOSTRESS, 110 00:05:31.698 --> 00:05:35.535 collects thermal data from on board the International Space Station. 111 00:05:35.702 --> 00:05:37.970 And we use this thermal data 112 00:05:37.970 --> 00:05:41.074 to better understand vegetation water stress here on Earth. 113 00:05:41.674 --> 00:05:45.745 And so we can apply this data in understanding crop water stress, 114 00:05:45.745 --> 00:05:49.148 looking at drought across forests 115 00:05:49.148 --> 00:05:51.718 in climate-vulnerable areas all around the world. 116 00:05:52.318 --> 00:05:55.121 Kathleen: And so I know that we also look at the temperature of plants. 117 00:05:55.121 --> 00:05:57.156 And I can't say I know why we do that? 118 00:05:57.924 --> 00:06:00.193 Christine: We look at the temperature of plants because 119 00:06:00.193 --> 00:06:01.861 plants contain a lot of water. 120 00:06:01.861 --> 00:06:05.098 It's part of their process for photosynthesizing. 121 00:06:05.198 --> 00:06:07.633 And the temperature is directly 122 00:06:07.633 --> 00:06:10.737 related to the water content within those plants. 123 00:06:10.737 --> 00:06:14.807 And so the hotter a plant gets, we can use that as an indicator of how 124 00:06:14.807 --> 00:06:18.711 how healthy that particular plant is. 125 00:06:18.711 --> 00:06:21.781 Kathleen: Got it. OK, so all this data is captured and collected. 126 00:06:21.781 --> 00:06:23.182 Who then uses it? 127 00:06:23.182 --> 00:06:26.252 Christine: Well, we have a wide variety of partners. 128 00:06:26.252 --> 00:06:30.323 One of our key partners is the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 129 00:06:30.356 --> 00:06:34.293 They utilize the data to better understand crop water stress across 130 00:06:34.293 --> 00:06:37.864 different areas, primarily in the continental United States. 131 00:06:37.864 --> 00:06:41.868 And they use this to understand and inform decisions 132 00:06:41.868 --> 00:06:45.638 like irrigation and water management, as well as the onset of drought. 133 00:06:45.638 --> 00:06:50.343 Kathleen: And so what advantages does ECOSTRESS get being on the ISS? 134 00:06:50.710 --> 00:06:53.379 Christine: We love being on the International Space Station. 135 00:06:53.379 --> 00:06:58.084 One of the really unique aspects of being on the ISIS 136 00:06:58.084 --> 00:07:00.887 is that there's a variable overpass time. 137 00:07:00.887 --> 00:07:05.391 And what that means is that instead of taking measurements at the same time, 138 00:07:05.391 --> 00:07:09.362 during each overpass, the way we might with other polar 139 00:07:09.362 --> 00:07:13.366 orbiting satellite missions, is that we actually get to take a snapshot 140 00:07:13.366 --> 00:07:17.637 of temperatures and water stress at different times of day. 141 00:07:17.637 --> 00:07:20.573 And what this then translates to 142 00:07:20.573 --> 00:07:24.110 is being able to look at the peak of vegetation water stress, 143 00:07:24.110 --> 00:07:27.246 which typically occurs in the mid to late afternoon. 144 00:07:27.246 --> 00:07:29.415 This is something that has not been done before. 145 00:07:29.415 --> 00:07:35.488 And being able to create this daily cycle of water stress 146 00:07:35.488 --> 00:07:38.958 for vegetation at these spatial and temporal scales. 147 00:07:38.958 --> 00:07:42.528 Kathleen: Well, it seems to me that instruments onboard the ISS are pretty crucial 148 00:07:42.528 --> 00:07:45.364 when it comes to monitoring our human caused climate change. [DOG BARK] 149 00:07:45.364 --> 00:07:47.133 Climate change is bad. 150 00:07:47.166 --> 00:07:49.969 Christine: Yes, so the really great thing about ECOSTRESS is that it 151 00:07:49.969 --> 00:07:54.941 complements these other instruments and other satellites like Landsat, 152 00:07:54.941 --> 00:07:58.778 to create a continuous long-term record of the Earth system. 153 00:07:59.378 --> 00:08:03.716 And right now, NASA is working on future missions that will build on these records 154 00:08:03.716 --> 00:08:06.819 to provide climate scientists a holistic view of the Earth. 155 00:08:06.819 --> 00:08:11.190 This provides us really unique insights to how vegetation 156 00:08:11.190 --> 00:08:15.228 and forests around the world are reacting to environmental and climate stressors. 157 00:08:15.228 --> 00:08:18.464 Kathleen: Well, you know, it's amazing to hear about all the science 158 00:08:18.464 --> 00:08:21.634 that goes into growing plants both in space and on Earth. 159 00:08:21.634 --> 00:08:24.470 And on that note, I'm ready to appreciate some of that science 160 00:08:24.470 --> 00:08:28.040 by digging into this salad. Christine, thank you so much for being here. 161 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:31.277 I really appreciate it! And thank you all for watching. Cheers! 162 00:08:31.344 --> 00:08:34.780 [DOG BARKING] You want salad?