Cowpea Seedlings Bloom: A Milestone in Space Farming

Cowpea seedlings onboard ISRO's PSLV-C60 POEM-4 sprout their first leaves in space, marking significant progress in space plant research. The automated CROPS module by VSSC successfully nurtured the plants' growth in microgravity, offering insights crucial for long-term space missions and sustainable life systems for astronauts.

Cowpea seedlings on board ISRO's PSLV-C60 POEM-4 module have sprouted their first leaves in space, signifying a significant milestone in space-based plant research, India's space agency announced on Monday.

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) developed the Compact Research Module for Orbital Plant Studies (CROPS), an automated platform crafted to cultivate and sustain plant life in microgravity environments. Recently, it facilitated the growth of cowpea seeds within a controlled, closed setting with active thermal management, according to ISRO.

The system tracked key parameters such as oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, relative humidity, temperature, and soil moisture while capturing images to monitor plant development. Successfully supporting cowpea germination up to the two-leaf stage in space, ISRO stated that this achievement not only demonstrates their ability to grow plants in orbit but also offers valuable insights critical for future missions. Understanding plant adaptation to microgravity is essential for creating life support systems that can produce food and regenerate air and water for astronauts. The CROPS experiment marks a step towards sustainable human presence in space.

(With inputs from agencies.)