Plants in Space: Photos by Gardening Astronauts

Zinnia in space saved from mold
This zinnia bloomed on the International Space Station after mold attacked some of its fellow flowers. (Image credit: Scott Kelly/NASA/Twitter)

Space Station's 1st Flower

NASA

When NASA astronaut Scott Kelly announced the first zinnias blooming on the International Space Station, the project joined a long line of successful plants in space. Here, he photographed one of the orange zinnia flowers grown in NASA's Veggie chamber on board the space station in January 2016.

A Zero-G Sunflower

NASA

NASA astronaut Don Pettit's sunflower blooms on the International Space Station as part of his personal biology experiment in 2012.

Space Lettuce a Tasty Treat

NASA

NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren (left) and Scott Kelly sample lettuce grown earlier with the Veg-01 experiment.

Veggie Plant Growth System

NASA

Astronauts on the International Space Station harvested a crop of "Outredgeous" red romaine lettuce from the Veggie plant growth system for growing vegetables and other plants in space.

NASA Astronauts Eat Space Lettuce

NASA TV via collectSPACE.com

NASA astronauts Scott Kelly (right) and Kjell Lindgren (center) with Kimiya Yui of JAXA snack on freshly harvested space-grown red romaine lettuce as part of the Veggie experiment.

Cosmic Green Thumb

NASA TV

NASA astronaut Steve Swanson holds a fistful of lettuce grown on the International Space Station as part of the Veggie experiment to test space crops in orbit.

Cosmic Lettuce

NASA

The lettuce shown in this image was grown in the Vegetable Production System, harvested and eaten by the crew on June 16, 2014.

Space Station Veggie Experiment Lettuce

NASA/Gioia Massa

A 28-day-old Outredgeous red romaine lettuce leaf growing in a prototype spaceflight pillow.

A Floating Zucchini Plant

Don Pettit/NASA

A zucchini plant floats aboard the International Space Station. From Don Pettit's blog: "This bag is mostly filled with air and only has a small amount of water neatly tucked in the corners from the action of capillary forces in weightlessness. This is aeroponics, a rather new method for raising plants without soil and without large volumes of water." Image released April 3, 2012.

Grow, Little Sprout!

Don Pettit/NASA

A zucchini sprout grows with four leaves aboard the International Space Station. Image released April 3, 2012.

A Zucchini Flower Blooms

Don Pettit/NASA

A zucchini sprout begins to grow aboard the International Space Station. From Don Pettit's blog: "I am zucchini — and I am in space." Image released April 3, 2012.

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