NASA is exploring ways to provide astronauts with nutrients in a form that will be easily absorbed and long-lasting. Fruits and vegetables grown in the fresh air are a great option. It may sound simple enough, but the challenge is in figuring out how to do it in a closed environment without sunlight or gravity.

Plants have been tested to see if they can flourish away from Earth in several experiments. As of last week, a new test has begun to see if growing veggies would be feasible.

An ISS flight engineer has begun harvesting radishes and mizuna greens, according to a NASA blog post. They were grown without soil. Growing edible plants with hydroponics and aeroponics is part of the ROOTS space gardening study. Eventually, future astronauts may be able to sustain themselves on missions beyond low-Earth orbit.

Growing plants in space is always a thrill since astronauts need them for both aesthetic and practical reasons. Space travelers can take a little piece of home with them on their journeys by adding flowers and gardens to the International Space Station.

NASA already knows that flowers and gardens on the International Space Station create a beautiful atmosphere. Also, they're good for psychological well-being and essential to keep astronauts healthy on long-duration missions, since multivitamins aren't enough to maintain their health.

NASA currently provides astronauts on the space station with prepackaged and freeze-dried meals to cover their dietary needs. Resupply missions keep them stocked. In contrast, when crews travel in space for months or years without resupply shipments, prepackaged vitamins deteriorate over time. The astronauts' overall health deteriorates as a result.

The use of soil-like growth materials has always been an option. However, it poses potential resource and sanitation problems. NASA's soilless vegetables are an exciting step towards a new era of interstellar discovery.

The ROOTS system, which stands for eXposed Root On-Orbit Test System, supports plants at all stages of their growth. The Byte reports that the system is experimental, with several different independent growth chambers that allow astronauts to test a wide variety of soil-free, air-and-water combinations on different types of plants.

Sierra Space is developing NASA's experimental XROOTS project, but it isn't ready to feed the entire space station just yet. We're still waiting for a full culinary review of the off-planet vegetables.

Since its launch back in February, and seeing there are only a few weeks left on the six-month study, space enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating what other crops and discoveries the study might yield. Furthermore, it could open up a host of technological possibilities in the future.

NASA hasn't only experimented with soil-free crops lately. Kjell Lindgren investigated why microgravity accelerates aging-like symptoms in humans. Phospho-Aging samples were stored in a science freezer after he processed them. Living in space affects molecular mechanisms that speed up bone and muscle loss, the blog post states.

Using the results, countermeasures may be developed to keep astronauts healthy and improve the lives of aging citizens on Earth.