NOTE: End date changed to 12/7/2023 per T. Sirmons/NASA JSC. (Ed., 3/22/22)

NOTE: End date changed to 9/30/2022 per PI (Ed., 10/8/21)

Twelve surface sampling sessions are required. For each session, four bacterial and fungal samples are collected from locations within the Veggie facility. The samples are collected during flight, and visual enumeration is performed approximately five days post-sampling. The samples are then returned to Earth for culture-based processing and microbe identification.

The Veggie hardware surface samples are analyzed, and the microbial data is compared to samples from ISS operational surfaces and the nominal potable water supply.

This work can be considered as “highly constrained” since it takes advantage of the operational microbial sampling procedure that is already conducted monthly onboard the ISS, by adding swabbing of the hardware and growing plants and collection of water samples, identical in nature and taken at the same time as the operational sample collections. The highly applied and operational nature of this work makes solicitation or awarding to an external entity not feasible. The MicroHost and Food PRRs (Path to Risk Reduction) identify this work as starting in FY19, and it is preceded by the ground study “Produce Microbiology” (Principal Investigator R. Wheeler) which is underway at Kennedy Space Center and will be completed by the end of FY18, and a Microbial Risk Assessment study initiated in Early FY19. The findings from the characterization of the Veggie system will feed into the Microbial Risk Assessment effort and into the Microbial Requirements Development task, planned to begin in FY20.

NOTE: End date changed to 9/30/2022 per PI (Ed., 10/8/21)

Twelve surface sampling sessions are required. For each session, four bacterial and fungal samples are collected from locations within the Veggie facility. The samples are collected during flight, and visual enumeration is performed approximately five days post-sampling. The samples are then returned to Earth for culture-based processing and microbe identification.

The Veggie hardware surface samples are analyzed, and the microbial data is compared to samples from ISS operational surfaces and the nominal potable water supply.

This work can be considered as “highly constrained” since it takes advantage of the operational microbial sampling procedure that is already conducted monthly onboard the ISS, by adding swabbing of the hardware and growing plants and collection of water samples, identical in nature and taken at the same time as the operational sample collections. The highly applied and operational nature of this work makes solicitation or awarding to an external entity not feasible. The MicroHost and Food PRRs (Path to Risk Reduction) identify this work as starting in FY19, and it is preceded by the ground study “Produce Microbiology” (Principal Investigator R. Wheeler) which is underway at Kennedy Space Center and will be completed by the end of FY18, and a Microbial Risk Assessment study initiated in Early FY19. The findings from the characterization of the Veggie system will feed into the Microbial Risk Assessment effort and into the Microbial Requirements Development task, planned to begin in FY20.

Some samples had growth of microorganisms, while others were devoid of growth. Sites were chosen based on previous results and likelihood of astronaut contact. Access to the interior of the unit is coordinated in between Veggie Unit payloads and as a result, fewer samples have been collected inside of the units. Future collections will continue to target surface sample collection from within the unit to fully comprehend the impact of microbes on system, plant, and crew health. Results continue to suggest a robust microbial community affiliated with the Veggie unit and will be compared to historical ISS data to for a comprehensive evaluation.

Twelve surface sampling sessions are required. For each session, four bacterial and fungal samples are collected from locations within the Veggie facility. The samples are collected during flight, and visual enumeration is performed approximately five days post-sampling. The samples are then returned to Earth for culture-based processing and microbe identification.

The Veggie hardware surface samples are analyzed, and the microbial data is compared to samples from ISS operational surfaces and the nominal potable water supply.

This work can be considered as “highly constrained” since it takes advantage of the operational microbial sampling procedure that is already conducted monthly onboard the ISS, by adding swabbing of the hardware and growing plants and collection of water samples, identical in nature and taken at the same time as the operational sample collections. The highly applied and operational nature of this work makes solicitation or awarding to an external entity not feasible. The MicroHost and Food PRRs (Path to Risk Reduction) identify this work as starting in FY19, and it is preceded by the ground study “Produce Microbiology” (Principal Investigator R. Wheeler) which is underway at Kennedy Space Center and will be completed by the end of FY18, and a Microbial Risk Assessment study initiated in Early FY19. The findings from the characterization of the Veggie system will feed into the Microbial Risk Assessment effort and into the Microbial Requirements Development task, planned to begin in FY20.

The objective of this experiment is to characterize the microbial community of the Veggie plant growth system in order to identify a baseline of microorganisms that can be used to:

1. Develop microbial requirements for spaceflight-grown produce

2. Provide inputs to future plant growth system design

Future work will be continued evaluation of microorganisms that colonize the plant growth system using next generation monitoring technologies to develop future methods for evaluation of produce safety. Of note, the data collected in this study may be used to get a better understating of the sources of plant system contamination from the ISS environment, pre-flight hardware contamination, water/nutrient supply, plant growth matrix, and the seeds.

This work can be considered as “highly constrained” since it takes advantage of the operational microbial sampling procedure that is already conducted monthly onboard the ISS, by adding swabbing of the hardware and growing plants and collection of water samples, identical in nature and taken at the same time as the operational sample collections. The highly applied and operational nature of this work makes solicitation or awarding to an external entity not feasible. The MicroHost and Food PRRs (Path to Risk Reduction) identify this work as starting in FY19, and it is preceded by the ground study “Produce Microbiology” (Principal Investigator R. Wheeler) which is underway at Kennedy Space Center and will be completed by the end of FY18, and a Microbial Risk Assessment study initiated in Early FY19. The findings from the characterization of the Veggie system will feed into the Microbial Risk Assessment effort and into the Microbial Requirements Development task, planned to begin in FY20.