KSC-05-S-00303

Thanks to Discovery's return to flight mission, scientists at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will for the first time test units used to grow plants aboard the International Space Station. Dr. Jay Garland, chief scientist for the project, is excited about the chance to study the modules from the Lada greenhouse units firsthand to ensure the space-grown crops are safe for astronauts to eat. 'We'll be receiving what's called the root module, which is instead of the upper part -- here's the light bank and the actual chamber -- here's the section that houses the plant growth media, and the plant roots would grow down into this. So we are receiving two of these units that have been up on the ISS and used to grow plants, and we'll be sampling these, both the interior and exterior of the system, to look for what microbes are growing within this system.' The Lada --named for the ancient Russian goddess of spring -- was developed as a cooperative effort between the U.S. and Russia. The wall-mounted greenhouse has been in use in the Russian module of the space station since 2002, when it was delivered aboard a Russian Progress spacecraft. Scientists hope that what they learn from the Lada can translate into positive results for future space gardeners. 'The overall project is trying to look at maximizing the production of food, looking at the psychological value of having these plants in the spacecraft along with the astronauts, and then our particular roll is looking at the microbial food safety of these space-grown vegetables to see if there's any potential risk of people growing and consuming plants in the spacecraft environment.'