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Seeds-in-Space Education Experiment During the Dutch Soyuz Mission, DELTA. Jack JWA van Loon1, Koen Weterings2 Jasper Wamsteker3 1:DESC ACTA-Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, NL. E-mail:j.vanloon@vumc.nl : http://www.desc.med.vu.nl. 2:Plant Cell Biology, University Nijmegen, NL. 3: SRON : National Institute for Space Research, Utrecht, NL.

   The universe, stars, space flight and astronauts have always been exciting and inspiring to mankind, especially to children. However, over the years, the number of pupils and students who have an interest and plan a career in the field of science and technology has been declining in many countries including the Netherlands.

The educational experiment Seeds-in-Space was an effort to stimulate young people, age group 10-14 year, to participate in a science experiment during the Dutch Soyuz Mission, DELTA. The rationale of Seeds-in-Space was that it is performed on board the International Space Station, by the Dutch — ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers, and at exactly the same time, the same experiment was performed by children on ground. We designed a rocket shaped growth chamber in which we grew rocket lettuce (Rucola or Eruca sativa). Seeds germinated in a dark or light chamber. After 4 days the microgravity grown flight samples were compared with the 1xg cultures on ground.

Within the Netherlands a total of at least 70.000 children participated in this experiment. This is about 15% of the total population in this age group. An additional 70-80 thousand children in Germany also joint the experiment. 'Seeds' is also considered for future Soyuz missions.

We verified the growth using the Random Positioning Machine (RPM) so the actual flight results were not completely surprising although there were some unexpected results, most likely due to increased ethylene levels on board ISS.

The initial idea of having children on ground working together with an astronaut on board the ISS has proven to be a valuable concept to improve participation and affiliation with science and technology. This educational model is considered for future missions.

(Supported by NL Min.OC&W and NWO-SRON grant MG-057)