国际空间站( ISS )上的宇航员品尝到了新鲜的“太空莴苣”。这种红叶莴苣全都是由宇航员们在空间站里自己亲手栽种。此举标志着“太空蔬菜项目”的开始。今后我们将会看到更多空间站生长的食品问世。BBC 的 Gary O'Donoghue 有以下报道：
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 词汇表
crops农作物
produce农产品
sanitising cloths清洁布
feast丰盛的筵席
self-sufficient自给自足的
judgement判断，结论
