Native seeds may feed future human colonies in space

Good morning friends. There are seeds that are being germinated. Native seeds may feed future human colonies in space.

An Australian experiment with native plant seeds has raised hopes for self-sustaining human colonies in space, with the seeds, taken into space last year, showing no signs of "fatigue" or damage after surviving more than 28,000 orbits of the earth.

According to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald, the seedlings of the golden wattle, waratah, flannel flower and wollemi pine accompanied NASA astronaut Dr Gregory Chamitoff on his six-month space odyssey. At the request of NSW's (New South Wales') Botanic Gardens Trust, Dr Chamitoff took the seeds on the Space Shuttle Discovery mission to the International Space Station in May 2008.

While tests are still being conducted on the seedlings, which returned to earth in November last year, conservationists are encouraged by preliminary findings. The seeds are being germinated and "fast-track" aged at the Trust's NSW Seedbank at Mount Annan Botanic Garden in Sydney's southwest. "With habitats under increasing threat, seedbanking on earth, and perhaps in space, will be part of an integrated conservation program for species threatened by extinction due to global warming or other sudden changes to their habitat," said Trust executive director Dr Tim Entwisle.

"As a species (humans) have an impact upon the other species of the world and we have the possibility of damaging the environment where we lose the biodiversity because of our actions," said Entwisle. "We also are a species that understands these things and, therefore, I think we have a moral imperative to do these kinds of things and protect the environment." he added.

For NASA, the findings also present the opportunity to plan for possible space colonies.

"As soon as we get back to the moon and even before we reach Mars, we're going to have to figure out how to recycle as much as we can and provide as much food sources as we can in space," Dr Chamitoff said.

"From NASA's perspective, we are interested in seeds that might be hardy enough to survive long duration exposure to the space environment and then germinate in greenhouses in Space or on other planets," he added. "Ultimately, this will be essential to support self-sustaining outposts or colonies in Space with food and oxygen," he explained.The NSW Seedbank tests on the seedlings will monitor their growth, vigour and life span compared to control seeds. (ANI)

Rain or shine, Atlantis to attempt landing Sunday (2)

Good morning friends. Rain or shine, the crew of the US space shuttle Atlantis will have to attempt to land Sunday after bad weather forced delays in their return to Earth for two consecutive days.

NASA officials, however, may have to land the orbiter in California, on the other side of the country than initially planned.

On Saturday, heavy cloud cover and crosswinds forced the US space agency to put off the space shuttle Atlantis' return to Earth for at least another day, extending an otherwise successful mission to repair the Hubble telescope.

NASA had hoped to land the shuttle at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, but the weather did not cooperate, waving off landing for a second straight day. The crew has enough fuel to fly until Monday at the latest.

"The forecast for tomorrow is slightly better," Allard Beutel, a spokesman for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, told AFP. The US space agency has prepared Edwards Air Force Base in California as a back-up landing point in case conditions do not clear up in Florida.

"There's a chance for a landing at Kennedy tomorrow, and we're going to keep that option open," said Greg Johnson, another NASA spokesman. "Edwards remains good for tomorrow and Monday, if needed."

The first chance to land at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday is at 10:11 am (1411 GMT), he said. A second window of opportunity will appear nearly an hour and a half later -- at 11:40 am (15:40 GMT) in California -- and a third just nine minutes later: at 11:49 am (1549 GMT) in Florida.

NASA would prefer to land the shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center as it would cost the agency some two million dollars (1.4 million euros) extra to get the craft back home from Edwards Air Force Base.

Atlantis blasted off on May 11 with a crew of seven astronauts on what was scheduled to be an 11-day mission to repair the Hubble space telescope and extend its range and life for another five years. "They have enough supplies to stay on board until Monday. But we don't like to wait until the last moment," Beutel said. –The Times of India