New York: You must have witnessed smart-space farming by Hollywood actor Matt Damon in The Martian, as he struggled to survive on the Red Planet. But for NASA, space farming is already a reality.

In August this year, six astronauts on the International Space Station ISS became the first people to eat red romaine lettuce grown at the veggie plant growth system aboard the orbiting laboratory in space. NASA is funding Bruce Bugbee, director of the plants, soils and climate department at Utah State University, to help grow food in difficult space conditions.