SEEDS FROM SPACE are to be grown in Moray as part of a national campaign to test the effects of growing them after they have enjoyed some time on the International Space Station.
The educational experiment is being ‘launched’ by the Royal Horticultural Society in association with the UK Space Agency as part of their ‘Rocket Science’ project for school gardening.
Pupils from throughout the country will receive two packets of 100 seeds – one of which will be from 2kg that were flown to the Space Station last year before being returned to earth last month. Now Gordonstoun Junior School is one of 10,000 who will receive a packet of the ‘rocket’ space seeds.
These will be grown alongside regular seeds over seven weeks and any differences in their growth pattern noted by year-three pupils, who will not be told which seeds are which throughout the experiment.
A RHS spokesman said: “The basis of the experiment is to get students thinking about how we might preserve human life on another planet – and how astronauts can survive long-term missions and the difficulties of growing fresh food in challenging climates.
“The project, Rocket Science, will give around half a million UK children the chance to learn how science in space contributes to our knowledge of life on earth, using the invaluable expertise of the European Space Agency (ESA) and RHS Science team.
“Two kilograms of rocket seeds took off from Florida bound for the International Space Station as part of British ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s six-month Principia mission. The seeds were sent back to Earth and recovered from the Pacific Ocean.”
Gordonstoun Junior teacher Phoebe Csenki said: “This experiment is a fantastic way of teaching our pupils to think more scientifically and share their findings with the whole school.”