Shrooming in space

No, it’s not the title of Kid Cudi’s new album. SpaceX’s latest mission, Fram2, is slated to launch as soon as tonight, blasting off with the goal of growing mushrooms in space for the first time.

The Mission MushVroom experiment, spearheaded by FOODiQ Global, will explore how the crop best thrives in microgravity. If the mushrooms sprout successfully, they could provide a sustainable food source for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.

• The research team considers mushrooms the “perfect space crop” because they grow fast, can be eaten raw, don’t need a lot of water, and are nutritional—containing vitamin D, potassium, selenium, and copper.
• And like most fun-guys, they could prove themselves useful in more than just the kitchen: NASA is researching the use of fungi as architectural material to eventually grow human habitats in space.

Big picture: Over the span of 3-5 days, the mission’s four astronauts will undergo a 90-degree circularized orbit––meaning they’ll travel over Earth’s North and South Poles, something no human has done. In addition to mushroom-watching, the crew will conduct 21 other experiments aimed at advancing human health and performance in space, particularly for future long-duration missions.