Seed Treatment For 2010

For 2010, teachers will receive two packages of seeds for each class registered. The packages are labeled ”B” and “T”. The seeds have been identified with these initials as a tribute to the contributions made to the Canadian space program and to Tomatosphere by Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut, Dr. Robert (Bob) Thirsk.

One package of seeds is a control group and the other is the "treatment" group. The treatment group of Tomatosphere seeds was taken into space to the International Space Station (ISS) by CSA Astronaut, Julie Payette, on Mission STS-127, aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour from July 15th to 31st, 2009. During that mission, the astronaut crew delivered critical supplies to the Station, as well as experiments subsequently berthed to the laboratory platform. The Tomatosphere seeds were sent in four packages of 100 000 seeds each and spent approximately two months on the Station.

The seeds were returned to Earth in late September 2009 onboard a NASA shuttle flight and were then sent to Stokes Seeds in Welland, Ontario for packaging in order to be ready for distribution in the spring of 2010.

While in space, the seeds were occasionally checked on by Dr. Bob Thirsk.


Dr Robert Thirsk with Seeds

Dr. Thirsk returned to Earth on a Russian Soyuz vehicle on December 1, 2009, after 189 days in space, 187 on the International Space Station.

The “treatment” to which the seeds were exposed included a number of elements during their two-month stay on the ISS. These were: 1) an increase in pressure on the Shuttle flight to the ISS, 2) the weightless environment while on board the ISS, 3) a slight increase in the amount of radiation which all living things experience outside of the Earth’s protective atmosphere and 4) on return to the Earth’s atmosphere, the seeds were again exposed to increased pressure.

Some variations of this treatment of Tomatosphere seeds have been used in past experiments but the rare opportunity to replicate exposure to ISS conditions could not be missed. This experiment will provide scientifically useful information by helping us to verify the results of the only other experiment on board the ISS in 2006.