RHS Rocket Science Experiment: ISS flight slows seed growth; Mars food plans still viable

Tim PeakePhoto credit: Esa.int ESA astronaut Tim Peake took 2kg of rocket seeds to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015 as part of his six-month Principia mission. The seeds endured intense vibrations from launch and spaceflight and received up to 100 times more radiation than they would have experienced on Earth. After returning in 2016, they were planted and monitored by around 600,000 children across the UK in a large-scale experiment led by Royal Holloway, the Royal Horticultural Society, and the UK Space Agency. The results, published in the journal Life, showed that the space seeds grew more slowly and aged faster than Earth-bound controls, but they remained viable and capable of germination.A citizen science experiment on a national scaleThe Rocket Science project was organised by the Royal Horticultural Society's Campaign for School Gardening in partnership with the UK Space Agency. More than 8,600 schools and groups across the UK were tasked with planting the space-flown seeds alongside control seeds that had never left Earth. Children recorded germination rates, growth patterns and other observations as part of a controlled study designed to emulate how professio...