According to the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin, the experiment will be conducted not for astronauts, but for earthlings
MOSCOW, November 29. /tass/. Roscosmos, together with the Russian Academy of Sciences and private companies, plans to put plants in orbit that will become more hardy, and then return them to Earth. This was stated by the General Director of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin.
"We are negotiating with the Academy of Sciences and private companies to create some new plants that are somehow used by mankind for food: [grape] vine, wheat, rye, barley, which, being grown in orbit, will be returned to Earth," Rogozin said after the ceremony of awarding the prizes of the Government of the Russian Federation named after Yuri Gagarin in the field of space activities in 2021.
According to the head of Roscosmos, the experiment will be conducted not for astronauts, but for earthlings to "cure or make these plant species more resistant to various kinds of insects, infections." As a vine, Rogozin said, only autochthonous Russian grape varieties will be used.
In particular, the option of growing seeds in a 3D bioprinter is being considered, which, together with Invitro, has been adapted and tested on the ISS.
Previously, Head of the Department of the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IMBP) RAS Mark Belakovsky reported that Rogozin at a meeting of the Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Space proposed to prepare a scientist for a flight to the International Space Station (ISS) to conduct experiments. He explained that the general director of the state corporation asked for the help of the Russian Academy of Sciences in conducting a number of biological experiments in connection with the upcoming expansion of the front of scientific research, including a study scheduled for 2022 on the cultivation of modified varieties of grapevine.
