國際空間站( ISS )上的宇航員品嘗到了新鮮的“太空萵苣”。這種紅葉萵苣全都是由宇航員們在空間站里自己親手栽種。此舉標志著“太空蔬菜項目”的開始。今后我們將會看到更多空間站生長的食品問世。BBC 的 Gary O'Donoghue 有以下報道：
Astronauts have been growing crops in space for years but this is the first time they’ve eaten the produce while still in orbit. It took the crew on the space station 33 days to grow the red romaine lettuce under LED lamps.
Before they could eat the leaves they had to wipe them with sanitising cloths and then they added a little oil and vinegar. The verdict: "Good stuff", said one of the crew, saving a few leaves for the two Russian cosmonauts who were on a spacewalk while the feast was happening.
Nasa believes the experiment will help develop ways of making crews self-sufficient for longer journeys to places such as Mars. For now their judgement: one small bite for a man, one giant leaf for mankind.
Glossary 詞匯表
crops農作物
produce農產品
sanitising cloths清潔布
feast豐盛的筵席
self-sufficient自給自足的
judgement判斷，結論
