NASA is growing chili peppers in space Published: July 19, 2021 11:22 PM EDT Outer space is getting spicier, thanks to a new NASA initiative to add a little more flavor to astronauts’ diets. NASA announced last week that astronauts aboard the International Space Station are growing red and green chile peppers for the very first time. Hatch chile pepper seeds arrived at the station in June, thanks to a SpaceX commercial resupply services mission. NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, who launched to the ISS in April, initiated the experiment, dubbed Plant Habitat-04 (PH-04). He’s grown plants on the orbiting laboratory before, snacking on “outredgeous” red romaine lettuce in 2016.