Potato

The potato is a starchy tuber first grown in the Andes of South America thousands of years ago, and now one of the most important foods in the world. In October 1995 it became the first vegetable grown in space, when potato plants were grown from small tubers aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in a project with the University of Wisconsin.^[1] The potato is therefore the only vegetable with a mission patch.

In space

The experiment grew five small tubers from potato leaf cuttings in an orbiting chamber. The potatoes were small, about the size of a marble, but they proved that the plant could form tubers in weightlessness, which space agencies took as an encouraging step towards growing food on long missions.^[2] The potatoes did not report any difficulties with the flight.

Because a potato grows from its own tubers, any potato that has sprouted in a kitchen drawer is in effect volunteering for the next one.

Composition

A raw potato is about 80% water. The rest is mostly starch, which is why potatoes can be turned into chips, crisps, mash, flour, vodka and, in schools, a battery capable of powering a small clock. No other vegetable has been asked to do so many jobs, and none has complained less.

• Water: about 80%.
• Grown in space: 1995.
• Can power a clock: slightly.

See also

• Drawer – where it sometimes sprouts
• Moon – a possible future farm
• Water – most of a potato
• Carrot – a potato that went orange

References

1. Tuber, T. (1995). Spud in Orbit. Payload Press.
2. Marble, M. (1996). “Small but Real”. Space Agriculture 5: 1.
3. Mash, M. (2008). Eighty Percent. Kitchen Books.