On Monday, astronauts aboard the International Space Station harvested and ate the first lettuce to have been grown in space. Photo by NASA 

“It was one small bite for man, one giant meal for mankind.” And that’s putting it lightly. On Monday, after watching a batch of red romaine lettuce grow under a purplish glow in the microgravity of space, NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station harvested their own fresh produce. And this officially is the first time astronauts have dined on a harvest sown in space. Nothing like ‘home-grown’ food, right?

The vegetable experiment had been a long-awaited harvest for the astronauts, who say that the ability to grow and sustain crops in space may someday aid travelers on long space trips. Cultivating crops is seen as a critical step in the path to traveling to Mars, for instance. Kelly was one of three American astronauts who tried lettuce grown on board the International Space Station as part of a Nasa experiment. The crew members of Expedition 44 harvested space-grown red romaine lettuce heads. They first cleaned them with sanitizing wipes, then tried them raw, then dressed the roughage with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and Italian balsamic vinegar.

Nasa performed an earlier version of the Veggie experiment last year, after which the astronauts brought plants back to Earth for analysis.Those plants were “as clean if not cleaner” than grocery store fare, said Nasa spokesperson Stephanie Schierholz, leading to the current experiment. The astronauts will package up half the plants and freeze them for a return to the planet for testing.

Schierholz said the experiment will help Nasa break free from the limits of necessary resupply flights, which become increasingly difficult – if not impossible – as missions venture farther from Earth. Astronauts on the ISS usually have about six months’ worth of food at a given time; gardens could make a spacecraft relatively self-sustaining.

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