Mushrooms in Space? SpaceX Fram2 Mission Astronauts Are Taking Fungi to Orbit

Food is essential to human existence. For this reason, FOODiQ Global plans to grow food in space to cater to astronauts’ needs. Reports of these plans have hit the headlines as the Australian firm shares the details with the world.

Planting Mushrooms Aboard A SpaceX Fram2 Mission

FOODiQ Global is an Australian firm that studies food to better understand nutrition and find better ways to make food available globally. Now, they plan to take their research work to space – during the SpaceX Fram2 mission, which will head for Earth’s polar region in early April. Aboard this mission will be Eric Philips, an Australian adventurer and soon-to-be the fourth Australian to go to space.

The mission is to last between three and five days, and reports point out that Phillips will conduct the mushroom-growing experiment on the fourth day of the mission. In case of a success, it might turn into a large-scale project to grow food for astronauts aboard their spacecraft.

Why Grow Mushrooms In Space?

We have a variety of food to pick from here on Earth, so one might wonder why FOODiQ Global chooses to grow mushrooms in space. The reason behind this choice boils down to the composition of the fungi mushrooms.

Dr Flávia Fayet-Moore, the chief executive at FOODiQ Global, describes mushrooms as the “perfect space crop.” She says that due to the lack of technology to grow food in space, the ideal crops for this research, picked by NASA, are “lettuce, tomatoes and mushrooms.”

Unlike the other options, mushrooms double in size daily, don’t need special fertilizers or much water, and exposure to ultraviolet light boosts their vitamin D content. They also contain potassium, selenium, and copper, making them very nutrient-dense.