TOMATOSPHERE

TOMATO SEEDS IN STUDENTS’ HANDS, AFTER 18 MONTHS IN SPACE

The Tomatosphere educational project will reach its zenith during the 2005-2006 school year. For the final year of this educational program, tomato seeds that have spent 18 months in orbit will be used in class science projects across Canada. The cargo of more than 400,000 tomato seeds travelled back to Earth on August 9 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. This was the longest period of exposure for tomato seeds to the hostile environment of space since Tomatosphere began.

Tomatosphere was undertaken with several partners and launched in 2000. Since then, more than 387,000 young Canadians have participated in research needed to make a manned mission to Mars possible.

For more information on the project, please visit:

http://www.tomatosphere.org