HM Queen Elizabeth II visits the UK Space Agency and RHS ‘Rocket Science’ exhibition at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
In collaboration with ESA, the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society Campaign for School Gardening and the UK Space Agency launched an ‘out-of-this-world’ educational project at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Called Rocket Science, this project will see 2 kg of seeds of a variety of rocket salad sent to the International Space Station as part of ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s six-month Principia mission.
After several months in space, the seeds will be returned to Earth and sent to thousands of UK schools, together with a batch of seeds that stayed on Earth. Pupils will grow and compare the seeds to see whether space travel has an impact on the growth of the seeds. The results of the nationwide science experiment will be analysed to help find out if we can sustain human life in space by producing our own food.
Read more: ‘Rocket Science’: ESA at the Chelsea Flower Show