Hand Pollinating Pepper Plants

September 10, 2021 – NASA astronaut and Expedition 65 Flight Engineer Megan McArthur hand pollinates chile pepper plants as part of the Plant Habitat-04 experiment. McArthur uses her fingertip to gently rub inside a flower on the pepper plant, and then continues to transfer the pollen from that flower to the other flowers of the crop. Initial pollination of the plants was achieved through air circulation in the enclosed Advanced Plant Habitat facility. The chile pepper seeds started growing on July 12, 2021, and represent one of the longest and most challenging plant experiments attempted aboard the orbiting laboratory. They will be harvested twice, once in late October and again in late November. Astronauts will sanitize the peppers, eat part of their harvest, and return the rest to Earth for analysis. What we learn will inform future crop growth and food supplementation activities for deep space exploration.