It was not however, the first flower grown in space.
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Aastronaut Don Pettit chose to grow a few different kinds of plants on board the station four years back, being labeled as a “personal biology experiment” by NASA. Lacking the sophisticated growth chamber that would later launch as part of the Veggie study, Pettit used plastic bags as his pots.
Besides growing zucchini and broccoli sprouts, Pettit also has cultivated a sunflower to blossom successfully.
(ORBITEC) in Madison, Wisconsin and was tested at the Kennedy Space Center before it was delivered to the space station by SpaceX in April 2014.
Pettit wrote in his blog, “Sunflower is going to seed!”
“First ever flower grown in space makes its debut”, captioned Kelly, who is referred to as NASA’s autonomous gardener aboard the space station, with hashtags #SpaceFlower #zinnia and #YearInSpace. “Surprisingly enough, the Guinness Book of World Records includes an entry for the ‘first species of plant to flower in space”. But we made a mistake: We trusted space-gardener Scott Kelly when he gleefully exclaimed it was the first flower to bloom in space.
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“This push from Nasa to film even the most mundane activities in 4K has been a welcome one because for the first time it really feels like you can get a sense of how big the space station is and what it must be like to be there”, says The Verge. Weather and other factors permitting, the ISS’s longest-term residents will return to Earth in early March, according to a report from the NBC News.
