Mars plants will soon be cultivated by the NASA Crew-4, which recently arrived at the International Space Station thanks to SpaceX.
NASA's Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope took this picture June 26, 2003 of Mars. Mars was approximately 43 million miles (68 million km) from Earth, the closest Mars has ever been to Earth since 1988. Frosty white water ice clouds and swirling orange dust storms above a vivid rusty landscape reveal Mars as a dynamic planet in this sharpest view,
This crewed spaceflight is the 4th fully-fledged ISS crew NASA sent into orbit using SpaceX's advanced rocket.
Ever since Elon Musk's independent space agency became operational, it was able to send six human spaceflights.
The latest one, which involves skilled NASA astronauts, will conduct tests to see if space plants can grow on Mars.
What's exciting about this new space goal is that the vegetables they plan to grow don't rely on the soil.
Mars Plants To Be Cultivated
According to Mashable's latest report, the four astronauts of the Crew-4 will perform various tests at ISS. Their efforts are part of their overall mission.
Crew-4 mission astronauts including Jessica Watkins (L) and Bob Hines (2nd L) have an impromptu cheer to the success of their mission as they walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building en route to launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 27, 2022. - The rocket will ferry the Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts.
Also Read: NASA Axiom-1 Mission Undocks from International Space Station, Finally Returning to Earth
Some of their plant-based experiments involve tests for aeroponic (air-based) and hydroponic (liquid-based) plants.
"Right now, space-based plant systems are limited and rely on particulate media-based systems to achieve water and nutrients," said the international space union.
The four #Crew4 astronauts walk out from the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building at @NASAKennedy ahead of their journey to the launchpad: pic.twitter.com/ocyKNVedJE
— NASA (@NASA) April 27, 2022
Aside from air-based vegetables, the Crew-4 will also participate in the so-called "Protein-Based Artificial Retina Manufacturing" experiment.
This test will check if creating artificial human cells in the retina of bacteriorhodopsin is possible.
Space Plan Studies at the ISS
The International Space Station already has its so-called Veggie (Vegetable Production System), a space garden used by NASA astronauts and other space partners to study plant growth in microgravity.
For the past few years, this space garden helped NASA conduct plant research. Now, the new Crew-4 is expected to take the space plant studies to another level by growing vegetation on the Red Planet.
Meanwhile, NASA's commercial satellite communication network effort has already chosen six U.S.-based SATCOM companies to help it achieve its goal.
On the other hand, NASA's Juno spacecraft was able to take an astounding photo of the shadow of a Jupiter moon.
For more news updates about NASA and its upcoming space activities, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
