After 300 days since he’s left planet earth to go for the NASA space mission, Astronaut Scott Kelly is now coming up to the end of his long term stay off the human star.
The most interesting thing is that the station where Kelly is based has its very own Vegetable plantations growing facility where he and his mates could grow types of vegetations on their own. The recent of all the batch of crops has just grown. That is the Zinnia flower with its bright orange colour.
The flowers have been somewhat difficult to foster
Since last year, the Astronaut crew along with Scott Kelly tried planting a Zinnias last year which have been quiet difficult to foster. Just two weeks after the flowers being planted, it started germinating. There was water seeping out on some of GBE leaves which actually mean as a result of excess in pressure.
Soon, there were curl ups and bending down of leaves which indicates stressed out conditions and stresses on their roots as a result of flooding. So the crew took the decision to increment the air flow being consumed by the plant which was seen as an ideal manner if ending the problem of the plant but instead, they were derailed thanks to an unexpected spacewalk in December.
As time gets by, Zinnias were looking dead as if they were struck with plagues.”Would they make it?” that was what goes on and on in the mind of the crew members. The leaves soon began dying off as mold grew. Kelly stepped in with his wisdom, cutting away the pieces of molds and increasing the fans chamber to higher speeds.
But that increased air flow caused the leaves to dry out. Kelly channeled his “inner Mark Watney,” and experimented with the crops, making his own modifications to keep them alive. Two of the flowers died, but thanks to Kelly’s intervention, two thrived and at least one bloomed this weekend.
#SpaceFlower out in the sun for the first time! #YearInSpacepic.twitter.com/Cghu9XGv1J
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) January 17, 2016
Believe it that Zinnias aren’t going to be the first plants grown out of earth in the space. Batches of red romaine lettuce had been grown in the growth chambers which sine were eaten by the crew members last year.
So Zinnias was just a better way of helping the Astronauts to have a better understanding on how flowers grow in microgravity.
Kelly did made the claims that these are the first flowers to be grown in the space even though that mightn’t be very true.
As far back as 2012… Astronaut Don Pettit grew sunflowers on the station. And in fact, there have been many flowers which were grown in the outer space before. But to ease off the case, NASA itself might be oy one to know which is first and which isn’t.
Despite the heavy technologies living with Zinnias, the plant never stopped adding at least some peace of beauty to the station. Its would just be a reminder of the natural environment which Scott would be seeing soon as he arrives back home soonest.
