Seeds in Space

Seeds that spent six months in space are no worse for wear. That's a good sign in case we ever need to live off-planet

On May 31, 2008, the Space Shuttle Discovery left for the International Space Station as part of STS-124, a 13-day mission to deliver components to complete the Japanese laboratory known as "Kibo" (hope).

But though Dr. Gregory Chamitoff, one of the astronauts on board, was certainly hoping for something, had something else up his sleeve -- seeds.

The New South Wales Seedbank of the New South Wales Botanic Gardens Trust in Australia asked him to carry the package of seeds from Earth as part of a research project that will help plan future human space colonies. The NSW Seedbank is partially funded by the Millennium Seed Bank Project, largest ex situ conservation project ever undertaken.

Dr. Chamitoff brought seeds of Flannel Flowers, a daisy-like flowering plant common to the bushland outside Sydney; Waratah, a large shrub native to NSW and Tasmania; Wollemi Pine, one of the world's rarest and oldest plants, going back to the time of the dinosaurs; and Golden Wattle, Australia's national flower. He and the seeds returned to Earth in November.

According to a June 29 Botanic Garden Trust press release, Dr. Chamitoff announced "that the first Australian seeds to go into space have survived six months in space and more than 2,800 orbits of the Earth with no signs of space fatigue or damage."

"The news that the seeds have not been affected by the space travels is fantastic," said Botanic Gardens Trust executive director Dr. Tim Entwisle. "With habitats under increasing threat, seedbanking on earth, and perhaps in space one day, will be part of an integrated conservation program for species threatened by extinction due to global warming or other sudden changes to their habitat."

The seeds are currently undergoing a "fast-track aging" process by which scientists will be able to determine if their time in zero gravity has affected their natural lifespan. As of now, they still know which way is "up."

"Hopes for self-sustaining human colonies in space have been renewed," wrote Catarina Fraga Matos in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"The Earth is big, it's the biggest thing you've even seen in your life, but it's alone," Dr. Chamitoff said. "You sense how vulnerable it is, and how important it is that -- as the one species capable of destroying it -- we protect it."

GET INVOLVED

• Donate to the Millennium Seed Bank
  
• Sign a petition to add the option for US taxpayers to contribute to NASA on the IRS 1040 tax form
• Analyze and reduce your impact on the environment with the National Grid Floe
• Sign the "We Can Solve It" petition for a global treaty on climate change

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image: Acacia pycnantha (Golden Wattle), Burnley Gardens, Victoria, Australia (credit: Melburnian)