Food made in space

6 Minute English

语言学习

2020-07-23

6 分钟
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  • This is a download from BBC Learning English.

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  • Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

  • I'm Neil.

  • And I'm Georgina.

  • Last November, NASA launched a very unusual home delivery service,

  • a rocket carrying four tons of supplies to the ISS, the International Space Station.

  • Among the scientific equipment were 12 bottles of red wine from the famous Bordeaux region off France.

  • The astronauts might have wanted a glass of wine with dinner,

  • but the real purpose of the bottles was to explore the possibility of producing food and drinking space, not for astronauts, but for people back on Earth.

  • In today's programme we'll be finding out how growing plants in space can develop crops,

  • which are more productive and more resistant to climate change here on Earth.

  • And we'll hear how plants can grow in environments with little or no natural light.

  • But first today's quiz question, what was the first food grown in space?

  • Was it A, potatoes, B, lettuce or sea tomatoes?

  • Mmm, well in the film The Martian, a stranded astronaut grows potatoes on Mars.

  • I know it's only a film, but I'll say A, potatoes.

  • Okay, we'll find out the answer later.

  • Now, you might be wondering how it's possible to grow plants without natural light.

  • British company vertical future has been working on this problem by developing indoor farming methods in partnership with NASA.