It Really Is Rocket Science at Thorpe Hall

Science this week involved a special delivery from Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Russian cosmonauts, Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos.

On March 2nd at 04.26am Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and Russian cosmonauts, Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos delivered two kilograms of ‘rocket seeds’ to Earth. On April 18th at 08.50am pupils from Thorpe Hall School received a very special delivery of 100 of them for an out of this world educational project. The ‘rocket seeds’ from outer space have been in microgravity since September aboard the International Space Station with British astronaut Tim Peake’s Principia mission. They are part of the Rocket Science project, a UK-wide science experiment created by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Thorpe Hall’s pupils along with children from across the country will now embark on a voyage of discovery of their own to see what growing plants in space can teach us about life on Earth. Pupils completed the first part of their critical mission on the 19th April with the sowing of 100 ‘rocket seeds’ and 100 control seeds that have been here on Earth for the same period. They will carefully monitor growth, record and submit data to leading scientists from the RHS and ESA, who will interpret the results and draw possible conclusions later this year. “This is such an exciting thing to be part of,” said Thorpe Hall School’s Science teacher Hasna Tufal. “In February we had a science lesson with Tim Peake live from the International Space Station via satellite, and now, we are growing seeds he sent back to Earth. It’s pretty inspirational stuff, and it has certainly brought out the space scientist in our pupils and teachers!”.