NASA has been, for ages, trying to find and grow life in outerspace in an attempt to study its benefits. In a social media post by one of the NASA astronauts, the first flower grown in space is revealed to be a Zinnia.
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, born on February 21, 1964, is a veteran astronaut with three successful space missions and a retired U.S. Navy Captain. He was chosen last year to spend a year in the International Space Station.
Aptly called "The Veggie Project" is beneficial in gaining important information in preparation for a Mars Mission and to celebrate the program's success, Kelly tweeted an online social media post with his Twitter handle @StationCRDKelly:
First ever flower grown in space makes its debut! #SpaceFlower #zinnia #YearInSpace
The Zinnia is a flower native to the Southwestern U.S. region. The plant is specifically chosen because of its sensitivity to the environment and light which will enable scientists to understand how plants flower and grow in microgravity in a space environment. The Veggie plant growth facility can be found in the orbiting lab.
You can take a look at the Zinnia plant, here.
Trent Smith, Veggie project manager at NASA explained that the zinnia will help explain how plants flower under the laboratory's conditions. He goes on to say that it...
...will enable fruiting plants like tomatoes to be grown and eaten in space using Veggie as the in-orbit garden.
Alexandra Whitmire, deputy element scientist for the Behavioral Health and Performance in NASA, states that plants can be advantageous to long term missions in space where the enviroment is artificial and deprived of nature, online posts reported.
Aside from tweeting, Scott Kelly is also a funny guy that made an appearance in an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, in one of Fallon's Thank You Note segments, making it the first ever Thank You Note from space.
