Rockingham Scout Group and ‘Spacacia’

In 2020, One Giant Leap Australia Foundation in collaboration with the Australia Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency sent Golden Wattle seeds to the International Space Station (ISS). The seeds spent roughly six months orbiting Earth inside the Japanese Experiment Module ‘Kibo’, where they experienced persistent microgravity and elevated cosmic radiation. Exposing seeds to space environments induces physical and physiological stresses that can alter cellular structures and DNA integrity. Understanding how orbital conditions influence seed dormancy and early viability provides critical insights for long future long-duration space habitation and space agriculture.

Once back on Earth the Space flown seeds, along with their Earth control were distributed to schools and community groups to carry out a unique citizen science project, gathering data for space science/agriculture.

Objective

To measure and compare the germination rates, time to germination and early vigour of space flown Golden Wattle seeds against Earth control samples under identical environmental conditions.

ISS Contact

On the 28th August, Rockingham Scout Group made radio contact with the ISS via ARISS and spoke with Astronaut Jack Hathaway. I have attached the link to the audio and transcript. Venturer Scout Alana helped coordinate the questions for the ISS and special mention was made to the Seeds in Space project, furthermore, my daughter, Joey Scout Lucy had her question selected and answered , regarding seeds/plants in space. Photos attached.

The ISS contact was a great opportunity to deliver a powerpoint presentation to showcase the Seeds in Space experiment and discuss key findings to the scout group, while letting everyone take a look at the ‘Spacacia’ seedlings.