Year seven students at Daylesford Secondary College will leave a space legacy at the school when they eventually graduate after being chosen to participate in a science experiment that is literally out of this world.
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The students will receive wattle seeds that have spent six months in space, and a control group of seeds from the same batch that remained on Earth, to germinate, grow and plant on the school grounds.
Students will send data sent back to Japanese researchers involved in the Asian Herbs in Space project to study the effects of microgravity on seeds.
Understanding these effects could help future astronauts be able to grow crops in space.
Science teacher Liz Woodroofe said the wattle seeds would be taken to the International Space Station on a Space X spacecraft, spending six months orbiting the earth before being bought back.
"Our students will germinate the seeds, monitor their germination, their growth, feed data back to the researchers and eventually, hopefully we will plant them in the school grounds where they will be identified by an imaging app which will show where all the space wattles are across Australia," Ms Woodroofe said.
The Australian arm of the space project has been dubbed 'What'll Happen With the Wattle?' and is being run through One Giant Leap Australia in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency supported by the Australian Space Agency.
The school's 'Green Team' recently won funding to create a carbon sink on an area of unused land on the school site and any successful saplings grown from the research seeds will be planted there.
"The students are pretty excited to be involved. There's quite a few of them who are keen on space and space technology," Ms Woodroofe said.
"When the seeds come back and we start to germinate and grow them it will become a bit more real. Our year sevens are the first ones to be involved and they'll be able to see the project through and it will be their legacy at the school."
But going out of this world means the seeds will need to undergo strict biosecurity procedures.
"My department played a leading role in the safe delivery of the seeds from Australia to the International Space Station and will assist again when the seeds return home to be studied by Aussie schoolkids," said minister for agriculture, drought and emergency management David Littleproud.
"Different sections of the department worked together cohesively, and with external partners, to help the seeds make their extra-terrestrial journey.
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"Upon arrival back to Earth, the department will facilitate the safe arrival of the Golden Wattle seeds back home in line with our stringent biosecurity requirements.
"It might be one small step for these seeds travelling to Japan then America for lift off to the International Space Station before coming back to Australia, but our biosecurity measures will take giant steps to ensure the seeds don't pose a risk to our farmers and environment.
"Wattle is a unifying symbol of Australia and Australians-and now it is supporting the international space community through research and education.
The seeds were collected by CSIRO from a wild population in Victoria.