"That's great," said NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, after he ate a piece of red lettuce that was grown in a special box. "Tastes good," agreed US astronaut Scott Kelly, who is spending one year at the research station. "Kind of like arugula," Kelly added, then used small bottles to spread extra virgin olive oil and vinegar on his leaf, much as one might spread mustard on a hot dog.
“太棒了，”美国航空航天局宇航员谢尔·林格伦在尝了一片生长在一个特殊盒子里的红色生菜后这样说道。“很美味，”在观测站待了一年的美国宇航员斯科特·凯利说道。“有点像芝麻菜，”凯利补充道，然后他用小瓶子把多余的一些原生橄榄油和醋洒在他的叶子上，这相当于人们把芥末洒在热狗上的份量。
NASA says that if space explorers can grow their own food while they are away from the Earth they would be more likely to survive the deep space exploration, which can last months or even years. With no way to resupply a spacecraft making a long journey to and from Mars, the ability to grow food during the trip will be key to survive. "Having the ability for us to grow our own food is a big step in that direction ," he said.
美国宇航局表示，如果探索太空的宇航员能在飞离地球后自己种菜吃的话，他们更可能从持续数月或数年的深空探测中幸存下来。由于没办法对在火星上来回长途飞行的航天器进行补给，在这次旅途中能否种植食物将成为存活的关键。“能够在太空上种植我们自己的蔬菜将成为来往火星旅途的一个大跨越，”他说。
Ray Wheeler, NASA's lead scientist for advanced life support activities at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, also said fresh foods such as tomatoes, blueberries and red lettuce, "could have a positive impact on people's moods and also could provide some protection against radiation in space."
美国航空航天局高级生命首席科学家雷·惠勒对佛罗里达州肯尼迪航天中心的一系列活动表示支持。他说，诸如土豆、蓝莓以及红叶生菜之类的新鲜食物对人们的心情有积极的影响，还能提供一些保护以抵御来自太空的辐射。
The red romaine lettuce was grown in a special plant-growing box called a Veggie unit that was built by Orbital Technologies Corporation in Madison, Wisconsin, and was flown to space aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship. The seeds are contained in rooting pillows, which come complete with soil and fertilizer. Since water cannot be poured in space, a special irrigation system delivers moisture to the plant pillows from below.
这些红色的长叶生菜生长在一种叫做蔬菜装置的特殊植物栽培的盒子，这种装置由威斯康星州麦迪逊轨道科技公司设计。这种装置被空运至太空上的SpaceX龙货船上。这些种子被储存在含有土壤和肥料的生根枕头里。由于无法向太空喷水，一种特殊的灌溉系统会从底部为植物枕头提供水分。
The seeds were "activated" by Kelly on July 8 and grew for 33 days. On Monday, Lindgren used tongs to harvest the lettuce from its growing box, before attaching the leaves carefully to a tray. He cleaned them with food-safe bag, to Kelly and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui. They saved a couple of leaves for Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka, who were outside the station doing a spacewalk.
7月8日，凯利激活了这些种子，并让它们生长了33天。周一，林格伦用钳子从培养箱里收割了生菜，之后他小心翼翼地将这些叶子附在了一个托盘上。他用食品安全包清洁了这些叶子，然后把它们交给了凯利和日本宇航员油井龟美。他们为在空间站外进行太空漫步的俄罗斯宇航员Mikhail Kornienk以及Gennady Padalka储备了少量的叶子。
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