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Five plastic baggies are floating in front of a window on the space station. Each baggie holds a different kind of seed with a corresponding label on the outside. Some of the labels read “Choctaw Sweet Potato Squash,” “Choctaw Smith Peas,” and “Choctaw Corn Flour.”

Native American Seeds Flown Aboard Space Station

Five varieties of seeds provided by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma were pictured inside the cupola on Nov. 21, 2023, as the International Space Station orbited 260 miles above the Atlantic Ocean. The seeds were exposed to microgravity for several months then returned to Earth and planted next to the same seeds left on Earth for comparison. The space botany experiment is promoting STEM education among tribal members.

Image Credit: NASA/Loral O'Hara

TakenNovember 21, 2023

Image CreditNASA/Loral O'Hara

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