The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has commenced the process of exposing seeds to a complex mixture of cosmic radiation and harsh space conditions.
This according to the report could lead to the growth of new plant varieties that can withstand the effects of climate change and help fight global hunger.
This was revealed during a virtual event to mark part of the activities of the International Year of Millets 2023.
Both organisations will be sending crop seeds into space. One of the two types of seeds is sorghum, which is promoted by the International Year of Millets 2023.
According to the report on FAO Website, the two organisations launched a comic book competition inviting 14 to 18-year-olds to submit artwork that tells the story of ‘seeds in space’. Now is your chance to show us millets in space!
Youth around the world were invited to create a paper or digital illustration to portray one of the six main steps of the seeds’ journey to the International Space Station (ISS), and what will happen when they arrive back on Earth.
The winning design will be used as the inspiration behind the visuals of the official Seeds in Space comic book.
“On 7 November 2022, seeds from the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture laboratories were launched in a cargo shuttle from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility to the ISS where, for around five months, they are being exposed to conditions prevailing in space — a complex mixture of cosmic radiation, microgravity and extreme temperatures — inside and outside the ISS.
“The seeds are expected to return at the beginning of April, when they will be germinated, grown and screened for desirable traits. These analyses will help to understand whether cosmic radiation and harsh space conditions will lead to crops becoming more resilient in the face of increasingly difficult growing conditions on Earth.
“Six steps will be portrayed in the comic and participants may submit drawings for as many of the steps as they wish: preparation of seeds for space, launch into space and docking at the International Space Station, exposure to cosmic radiation, microgravity and extreme temperatures in space, splashdown and return to Joint FAO/IAEA Centre laboratories, analysis and growth in Joint FAO/IAEA Centre laboratories, the results: Do cosmic radiation and space conditions have a uniquely valuable effect on the seeds?
“Artwork will be judged by IAEA and FAO scientists and designers, who will select a shortlist of 10 designs (the nominees), and from those select the winning design,” the report reveals.