I became fascinated with space exploration the moment I heard about the dog, Laika, going into space in
1957. I was nine years old. In 1981 this interest lead me to become a Regional Resource Person for the National Air
and Space Museum.
Then, in 1984, Mission 41-C of the space shuttle Challenger was launched, with a payload that included six million tomato seeds, part of a study on the effects of the space environment on various materials and substances.
The seeds were to be distributed to classrooms all over the country to be planted, and I wrote to NASA requesting some of the seeds when they were returned to earth. I never received a reply.
Due to the Challenger accident and heavy demand on the shuttle program, the seeds remained in space for six years. When Discovery returned the shuttle program to flight status in the fall of 1988, I again requested that NASA put me on a list to receive some of the seeds.
Again, I received no reply.
The Long Duration Exposure Facility containing the seeds was finally retrieved by the space shuttle Columbia on January 12, 1990. I wrote to NASA a third time to request these seeds. Still no reply, but by this time I had learned that educators could request seeds through the NASA Web site. I tried to get on the mailing list through the Internet, but received no reply and quietly gave up my quest.
A television report indicating the seeds were germinating sparked my interest in the project once more. A few days later I went out to my mailbox and returned with a package of seeds from NASA! The following day I received two more packages of seeds. When I received a fourth package a few days later, I was officially overwhelmed.
Each package contained five packets. Four of the packets had been in space those six years, each at a different level within the spacecraft. The fifth packet of seeds was a control group that had been on Earth for the six years.
I contacted numerous classrooms in the Big Rapids area. Each classroom received seeds from all five packets. The experiment, designed to follow the germination and early growth of the plants, ended before the plants developed fruit because the school year ended in early June.
My wife and I, however, kept growing the plants in our garden and harvested the ripe tomatoes. One of our friends, an excellent gardener, refused to eat them, fearing they were unsafe. Having no such fears myself, I gladly ate the tomatoes. We also canned some.
The results of my experiments and others seemed to indicate there was no difference between tomatoes grown from space-exposed seeds and those grown from Earth-based seeds. NASA was interested in studies of tomato production into a second generation, so I continued this experiment into a second year, keeping a number of seeds from the first-generation plants for the following spring.
In 1991, I planted 60 seeds and found no appreciable differences between Earth-bound and space tomatoes. The yield for all the plants would have been higher if it hadn’t been for an invasion of tomato worms that conducted their own experiment, indicating they found all groups of plants equally to their liking. Numerous human taste tests also found no noticeable difference. Both groups of plants produced delicious fruit. There also was no difference between the number of seeds or their distribution within the fruit. These results suggested that space environment is not harmful to tomato seeds and should pose no threat to food production in space.
I sent a detailed copy of my results from the second year to NASA, but received no reply.
As I began planting a third generation, I received letters from high-school students in Ohio and Indiana asking me for advice on growing space tomatoes. Perplexed, I nonetheless wrote them back detailing my experiences and encouraging them to continue their research. Shortly thereafter I finally received a letter from NASA—informing me they no longer were keeping records on space tomatoes and were directing all inquiries to me! Thirty-five years after Laika was launched, I had become the national expert on the subject of space tomatoes.
This fall I finished harvesting 12th-generation space tomato plants. In that time, I’ve won a ribbon at the county fair, battled deer, rabbits and raccoons, and raced to harvest tomatoes before harsh autumn freezes.
Our yearly ritual continues. Each spring we pull out the tomato seeds, set up the growth light and plant the seeds indoors. Six weeks later we transplant them to the garden and battle the elements. Over the years, the germination rate of the tomatoes has decreased. Future space travelers will need to keep this in mind when setting up permanent colonies on the moon or Mars.
I’ve enjoyed the experience—it’s been a great tool for engaging people in the excitement of space exploration. And if NASA would like to send some 13th-generation seeds up to the International Space Station, I know where they can get some cheap.

 

FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
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