A Japanese astronaut is planning to grow cucumbers in space as part of an experiment to assess how gravity affects food cultivation.

Satoshi Furukawa is due to blast into space today for a six-month stint on board the International Space Station (ISS).


Russian cosmonaut Sergey Volkovu00a0and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa plan to grow cucumbbers and tomatoes in space

Preparing for his mission, the astronaut revealed he was planning to harvest cucumbers as part of an experiment focusing on the effects of gravity-free environment on food growth.

The space experiment will most likely be welcomed by the cucumber industry back on earth, which has been hit badly by mistaken reports of connections with the E.coli outbreak.

However, Furukawa lamented the fact that astronauts would be forbidden to eat the food grown on board the space ship because of strict controls on their diet.

The cucumber project is the latest food-related initiative taken up by the Japanese space team, with fellow astronaut Soichi Noguchi making his own sushi while on board the ISS last year.

In the latest space mission, Furukawa will not be the only green-fingered ISS resident experimenting with vegetables: fellow traveller Sergei Volkov, from Russia, will also be growing tomatoes.

Volkov joked that he would like to be granted permission to make a cucumber-tomato salad with his Japanese colleague, adding,"To be honest, what I would really like is fried potato."