--- title: "NASA Astronauts Harvest Delicious Space Vegetables, Sans Soil" description: "Interstellar Salad Earthly space travelers have been trying to perfect in-orbit botany for a while now. Stable, sustainable off-world agricultural practices are needed to make longer-term exploration missions possible, and though the International Space Station (ISS) has seen a few successful low-orbit gardening endeavors, all have used some sort of soil or soil-replacing growth media. […]" date: "2022-06-28" modified: "2022-06-28" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-astronauts-harvest-space-vegetables" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "botany" - "iss" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # NASA Astronauts Harvest Delicious Space Vegetables, Sans Soil ![NASA Flight Engineer Jessica Watkins has harvested radishes and mizuna greens aboard the ISS — successfully grown without any soil whatsoever.]() *\Image: Sierra Space\* ## Interstellar Salad Earthly space travelers have been trying to perfect orbital botany for a while now. Stable, sustainable off world agricultural practices are needed to make longer term exploration missions possible, and though the International Space Station (ISS) has seen a few [successful low-orbit gardening]() endeavors, all have used some sort of soil or soil-replacing growth media. Now, thanks to NASA Flight Engineer Jessica Watkins, that could be starting to change. According to a NASA blog [published last week](), Watkins has begun to harvest radishes and mizuna greens aboard the ISS — grown without any soil whatsoever. Growing [any edible plants]() in space is always exciting, but using dirt-like growth materials presents potential resource, mess, and sanitation problems. And that's why Watkins' triumphant soilless crop could be a thrilling step towards a new age of interstellar discovery. ## Space Veggies Watkins grew the cosmic vegetables with the help of a system called XROOTS. Shorthand for the eXposed Root On-Orbit Test System, XROOTS using only hydroponic and aeroponic techniques to support a plant through all stages of growth, starting with a seed. NASA [says that the system]() — created by [private sector company Sierra Space]() — is experimental, containing a number of different "independent growth chambers" that allow astronauts to test a variety of soil-free, air-and-water-based concoctions on different types of plants. It doesn't look like the machine is quite ready to feed a village, and we're still waiting for a full culinary review of the off-planet veggies. But the XROOTS experiment was just launched back in February, and seeing as how it was meant to last 4-6 months, we're looking forward to any other crops and discoveries it might yield — not to mention the tech it could make possible down the road. **More on off-world botany:** *[Bad News! The Plants Grown in Moon Soil Turned out Wretched]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()