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University of Florida scientists are sending strawberry and orchid seeds to the International Space Station to study how spaceflight affects plant genetics.
UF researcher, Wagner Vendrame, says the UF environmental horticulture department is sending four types of UF-bred seeds aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket headed to the ISS tomorrow.
The seeds will be stored aboard the ISS, untouched, until they return to earth on the next scheduled trip. Dr. Vendrame says once the seeds become plants, they will be analyzed for any possible genetic changes caused by spaceflight.
"Space is the ultimate high-stress environment for plants. On Earth, the extreme environments we have to contend with include heat waves, drought and hard freezes," said Dr. Vendrame. "This could be a way of generating more crops that are resilient to those kinds of stressors."
The UF-bred seed research is part of a collaborative space farming project. And, Dr. Vendrame says the stress response of the space seed genes could be used to help plants on earth deal with heat, drought and floods. And to develop more resilient food for astronauts on the moon and Mars.