STEM

SEEDS  IN  SPACE

What'll Happen to the Wattle??!

SYDNEY --One  Giant Leap  Australia Foundation  is sending native golden wattle seeds to the International Space Station in early December, 2020.

In collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) the seeds will live in space for six months, returning to Australia in time for Science Week 2021.

Supported by the Australian Space Agency, the "What’ll happen with the wattle??!" programme is being offered to more than 150 schools, scout groups and Australian Air Force Cadets across Australia.

A community panel judged the applications that included 200 words and a short video, explaining what the schools would do with the wattle once it had grown. 

One of the panel members said, “We have spent 5 days watching videos. Entries from all over Australia. From a single teacher in a face mask in a school in Victoria to a small school in remote Northern Territory. It has been an amazing opportunity to laugh and cry our way through them.”

Once selected, the chosen schools around Australia will receive wattle seeds that have flown to space, plus seeds that have not. The seeds are from the same seed lot. Students are asked to  germinate and grow their seeds, recording data about the germination and seed growth. Data will be uploaded to the ‘What’ll happen to the wattle??!’ app.

Throughout the programme, One Giant Leap Australia Foundation will run teleconferences and provide educational support to participating groups. 

The 12-month to 2 year project will result in the creation of a nationwide map identifying the location of Australia‘s 'space wattle’ trees.

Exciting Update

In late October, 30 of our Year 7 students came together to create a two minute application video and introductory letter. In one week these amazing students brainstormed ideas about possible outcomes for the seeds that return from the International Space Station, wrote a script and recorded their video.

The hard work of our enthusiastic students paid off. Patterson River Secondary College has been given the amazing opportunity to participate in a project that aims to see the impact that variations in gravity has on plant growth.

This program involves Golden Wattle seeds being sent to the International Space Station (ISS) on the SpaceX (CRS21 mission) resupply rocket. The rocket successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Florida in the early hours of the morning on Monday 7th December. It was an unmanned resupply mission that carried not only our seeds but several hundred kilograms of experiments and scientific equipment along with supplies such as food and clothing, and a new docking ring. It was the first time that two different ‘Dragon – transport modules’ have been docked with the ISS at the same.

Our seeds will now spend the next six months on the station and when they return to Earth they will be distributed to 150 schools across Australia, along with seeds that have not been exposed to space. At this point we will plant them and record information about growth rate, this information will be combined with the data from other schools to help provide a greater understanding of the effects of gravity on growth.

Stay tuned for updates and links.

Here is the link to view the launch.

For further information on SpaceX launches.