An Australian company will try to be the first to cultivate a group of mushrooms in space, on the FRAM2 from Spacex, which was launched in early April.
In an experiment on the Fram2, the first mission to illuminate human space to the Earth’s polar areas, the Australian company aims to grow oyster mushrooms in minor gravity.
After its launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Fram2 mission is scheduled to last three and five days. Al -Fitr experience will be done on the last day by Australian adventurer Eric Phillips.
Philips will only be the fourth person born in Australia who goes to space, after Dr. Paul Scoli Power and Dr. Andy Thomas, who flew to NASA as American citizens, and Dr. Chris Bohozen in 2021, whose sub -journey continued on a blue origin vehicle for about 10 minutes.
Dr. Flevia Vite Moore, CEO of Foodique Global, described the “perfect space crop”, pointing to its rapid growth and its ability to eat raw value and nutritional.
She said: “Since we do not have a technique for treating food in space yet … NASA is currently a priority to research” growth, choice and take “crops – things like lettuce, tomatoes and mushrooms.”
Mushrooms are one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D, which increases when exposed to UV light.
“They multiply in size every day,” said Fayet-Mooor. “They don’t need a lot of inputs: they don’t need any special fertilizers, and they do not need much water.”
“They also have potassium in vegetables, but then they also have selenium and copper, who are usually found in nuts and seeds,” she said. “It is a very versatile example of thick nutrient food.”
Food and nutrition for moon and Mars missions among the best 30 priorities in the NASA list from Civil space challenges.
This is not the first time that fungi were sent to space. Last August, and Australian experience Under the leadership of astronomical physicists at the University of Swinburn, Dr. Sarah Web and Dr. Rebecca Allen, she sent bottles containing Mane Al -Assad, Türkiye’s tail and Cordycepe To the International Space Station.
The bottles contained mycelia (root -like networks of fungi) but had no space for mushrooms (fruits of living organisms) to grow.
On board Fram2, if the Mycelia fruit is in oyster mushrooms, Philips will be responsible for documenting the growth of mushrooms, crop return and signs of pollution.
When returning to Earth, FoodIQ Global will analyze the nutritional content of the fungus to see the extent of the impact of the minor gravity on its growth, and compare the results by controlling groups stored in Florida.