Today, Saturday November 26, an uncrewed SpaceX Dragon craft will be launching to the International Space Station. Packed inside the Dragon, which will be launched by a Falcon 9 rocket, will be a pair of new solar arrays for the space station, called International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays or iROSAs, as well as a wide range of science experiments and technology demonstrations.
Also included in the delivery will be an experiment to grow a crop of dwarf tomatoes. Growing food on the space station has been a topic of research because it will be necessary to grow food for longer crewed space missions, such as those planned to visit Mars, so that astronauts can eat something fresh. There is also a psychological component to growing and eating your own food that is beneficial for astronauts. Many of the foods grown on the ISS to date have been leafy greens (though there have also been experiments into growing chiles, radishes, and more), so the new experiment, called VEG-05, will test out growing tomatoes, including investigating how light and fertilizer affect their growth.
Dispatches From The Front 