Green thumbs galore

There are plants aplenty on the International Space Station, with several investigations looking into different aspects of plant behaviour in microgravity.

A NASA experiment, known as Plant Habitat-04, has astronauts tending to New Mexico Hatch Green Chili peppers – a species that takes a long time to germinate and bear fruit. APEX-08 focuses on cress and the mechanisms plants use to modulate the stress of microgravity, while a new European investigation, Eklosion, studies the psychological benefits of gardening and observing nature off our Earth.