Potatoes may be the key to survive extremely long space trips!
The potato isn't often touted as a super vegetable. Compared to antioxidant-rich greens, potatoes come up short. They're starchy and rather bland. NASA doesn't think so though. NASA believes that potatoes could be a critical component of space travel.
According to their studies, the potato would be the perfect plant for astronauts to take along on long space voyages, such as a trip to Mars. The potato plants would be grown aboard the spaceship, and would be used for both food and for converting carbon dioxide into oxygen.
Interestingly enough, NASA has found that the amount of potato plants necessary to sustain one astronaut with a food source is the same number required to process the air breathed by one astronaut.