As part of an experiment to determine the sustainability of life in space; returning astronaut, Scott Kelly returned with seeds of a vegetable – the salad leaf rocket – which had been carefully sorted and packed in space, and are to be distributed to 8,500 schools, children’s clubs and societies that have signed up for the experiment.
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The aim of the experiment is to compare these seeds with seeds that have not been in space to see if there are any differences. Also, they seek to determine if space conditions like weightlessness and cosmic radiation will have any effect on plant development, and if so, develop plant varieties that can be grown in space.
The seeds had been in space for six months and were returned to Earth in March by the former commander of the space station, Scott Kelly, whom you would remember had spent upward of a year in space as part of experiments to understand the effect of space conditions on the human body.
Read More: These are the 8 Effects of Space Life on the Human Body
According to Dr Libby Jackson of the UK Space Agency;
Should we ever want to send astronauts back to the Moon or on to Mars, they will need fresh food. At the moment, astronauts’ foods are freeze dried and not very exciting. We would like to have astronauts growing their own food. It would be healthier, and psychologically better for them; it would also mean that they would not need to take so much with them.
Pupils of one of the participating schools are already buzzing with excitement, being one of the very first to receive the seeds. According to the school head teacher, Neil Finlay:
There has been a huge reaction. The children have been so positive about the entire process. It’s been the talk of the school for the past couple of weeks. They are really looking forward to planting the seeds.
And one of the school’s physics teachers, Sunil Lal, avers that students have already begun to come up with imaginative theories about how the seeds might be affected by being in space. Some think that:
The stem will grow downwards rather than up because of the effects of gravity on the seeds themselves.
Yet others believe that:
The plants may not be as nutritious because of the radiation in space.
And you, what do you think? Do leave your thoughts in the Comments!
Source: BBC Science
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