Astronauts on the ISS Have Successfully Grown Cabbage in Space

Humanity grew one step closer to reaching The Martian-esque levels of space farming this week, as astronauts living on the International Space Station managed to grow a type of Chinese cabbage known as Tokyo Bekana.

This is actually the second time ISS astronauts have grown their own food in the last couple of years, with the first being a small crop of red romaine lettuce cultivated back in August of 2015. They’ve been hard at work since then, according to NASA scientist Gioia Massa (via Modern Farmer):

We conducted a survey of several leafy green vegetables and looked at how the crops grew, how nutritious they were, and how a taste panel felt about them. The ‘Tokyo Bekana’ Chinese cabbage variety was rated as the top in growth and the favorite of tasters.

This Friday, the astronaut-farmers will get to feast on half of their crop, while they’ll have to send the other half back to Earth for NASA inspection. For another look at the space-grown greens, check out NASA’s official blog post about them here, and find a photo from ISS astronaut Peggy Whitson below.

I am growing cabbage on station. I love gardening on Earth, and it is just as fun in space… I just need more room to plant more! pic.twitter.com/5hGMltDVCy
— Peggy Whitson (@AstroPeggy) February 8, 2017