Green Chile In Space

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Depending on the alignment of the planets, the shortest trip to the Red Planet can take about six months, and astronauts would ideally stay there for one year, Torres said.

With a total of two years away from Earth, the astronauts’ prepackaged meals would not last the full duration of the trip, so Torres and his team are currently undergoing studies and tests to determine foods most suitable to grow in space.

“We can build all the rockets we want to go to Mars, but it won’t work unless we have food to eat,” he said. “So, right now we are the top priority research project in NASA.”

The research team of microbiologists, engineers and scientists became enticed by the possibility of using New Mexico’s famous Hatch peppers. The Hatch peppers were the top choice until Torres arrived and suggested Española or Chimayó peppers.

“Because of the legacy and knowledge base with chiles developed in New Mexico, it just seemed to be a logical connection to establish when NASA began to conduct experiments with peppers as candidate plants for growing in space,” NASA Plant Physiologist Ray Wheeler said. “Jacob was instrumental in helping us make those connections.