Space Hummus and Steak

A private 10-day mission to the International Space Station is due to launch in March 2022. SpaceX Axiom Space-1 (AX-1) will carry four private astronauts, including Eytan Stibbe, who will become the second Israeli in space. (The first Israeli in space, Ilan Ramon, sadly died in the Columbia disaster).

Stibbe will spend most of his trip conducting educational experiments and demonstrating Israeli technologies (such as a radiation protective vest).

In May 2020, the Israel Space Agency at the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ramon Foundation announced Stibbe’s 44 experiments. (See the complete list.)

There’s the usual focus on medical experiments, but three agricultural investigations are on the list.

As duckweeds grow quickly, contain crucial phytonutrients and are 100% edible, they make an ideal candidate for producing leafy greens in space. GreenOnyx has developed automatic and autonomous duckweed growing systems and will use them to study duckweed growth in microgravity.

Principal Investigator: Dr Dubi Shachal of GreenOnyx.

This student experiment involves Brenner Regional High School, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ben-Gurion University, the Geological Survey of Israel and Israel Aerospace Industries.

It will use an artificial gravity instrument and the first Israeli Martian regolith simulant and investigate optimising plant growth strategies for food production on Mars.

Principal Investigator: Dr Tal Feingersh

Chickpeas could be the ultimate space crop, easy to grow and rich in nutrients. Space Hummus will be the first chickpea growth experiment on the ISS and will use optogenetics, an advanced genetic tool that can control plant growth, to maximise productivity.

Yonatan Winetraub is quoted as saying: “When I