Expedition 66 astronauts sample chile peppers grown on the International Space Station

iss066e023179 (October 29, 2021) -- NASA astronaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei samples a red chile pepper grown as part of the Plant Habitat-04 experiment aboard the International Space Station. 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. Vande Hei conducted the first harvest of the pepper crop on October 29, 2021. Crew members sanitized the peppers and completed a scientific survey after their taste test. The Crew-3 astronauts will take over the crop when they arrive at the orbiting laboratory, and will conduct a final harvest of the peppers in late November. They will also sanitize and sample the crop, and complete surveys. Some peppers from the final harvest and their leaves will return to Earth for further analysis. What we learn will inform future crop growth and food supplementation activities for deep space exploration.