Sunday Supplement: How Do You Like Them Space Apples?
Sunday Supplement: How Do You Like Them Space Apples?
New dwarf apples bred for spaceflight, and another trip down memory lane at EPCOT.
Hello, Gardeners of the Galaxy, and welcome to the GotG Sunday Supplement, premium content for my top Rocket Boosters!
In this year’s birthday podcast (episode 60) I talked about the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) work with NASA to develop plum trees that will grow in space. The new dwarf, continually flowering plum varieties can be grown like tomatoes. A recent ARS press release explains that the researchers at the Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, WV, have now managed to engineer Gala apple trees with similar characteristics. They don’t even need pollinating to produce fruit, and the apples are seedless, making them the perfect snack for busy astronauts with limited time for farming.
The space apples are being tested in the EPCOT Biotechnology Lab at Walt Disney World Resort, in custom-made plant growth chambers that mimic growing conditions on the International Space Station.
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