--- title: "Astronaut Insists the Mushrooms He’s Growing in Space Are “Not the Ones You’re Thinking”" description: "SpaceX's new Fram2 mission is experimenting with growing mushrooms in microgravity — but not the magic kind." date: "2025-04-03" modified: "2025-04-03" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/astronaut-growing-mushrooms-space" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "astronauts" - "fram2" - "mushrooms" - "SpaceX" --- # Astronaut Insists the Mushrooms He’s Growing in Space Are “Not the Ones You’re Thinking” ![SpaceX's new Fram2 mission is experimenting with growing mushrooms in microgravity — but not the magic kind.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* A crypto billionaire and a [filthy rich ketamine user]() have launched a trip to the stars — stop us if you've heard this one before. We promise it's not quite as Silicon Valley as it sounds, though as [Australian explorer]() and freshman astronaut [Eric Phillips told *Ars Technica*](), there are shrooms involved. Alongside Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, German roboticist Rabea Rogge, and Chinese crypto billionaire Chun Wang, Philips is a member of SpaceX's Fram2 mission. The first private flight of its kind, the four-person team launched in a Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket for the first-ever civilian mission flying over Earth's poles. Chartered by Chun — and, of course, greenlit by SpaceX owner and resident White House [psychonaut Elon Musk]() — the four-person crew [launched on March 31]() and are currently in orbit, working on [nearly two dozen]() scientific experiments they have planned for their short journey. Among them, as *Ars* noted, is the plan to become the first mushroom growers in space — but "they’re not the ones you’re thinking," Philips told the website. Instead, [per a Fram2 statement]() released ahead of the launch, they'll be growing delectable oyster mushrooms. FOODiQ Global, the Australian company behind the "Mission MushVroom" experiment aboard Fram2, said in the press release that "oyster mushrooms are the perfect space crop" because they grow rapidly and have tons of nutrients. They even have "the unique ability to make vitamin D," the statement noted. Along with all those nutritional benefits, those yummy shrooms will almost certainly taste better than [space food]() — if top space minds can figure out a way to cook them in orbit, that is. In an [op-ed for *Business Insider*](), FOODiQ founder and CEO Flávia Fayet-Moore said that she identified mushrooms as an ideal in-orbit crop, particularly for years-long missions to Mars and other planets. "Can you imagine eating thermostabilized, dehydrated food for five years?" the space nutritionist — yes, that is [apparently a real thing]() — wrote. "I can't." We won't know how well the shrooms grew in microgravity until Fram2 gets back to Earth this week. **More on space life:** [*Boeing's Starliner Disaster Was Even Worse Than We Thought, Astronaut Reveals*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()