Ladakh blasted two crop seeds into orbit. They will now be planted.

After spending just over a week on board the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronauts returned with seeds from the frigid Ladakh desert. On August 9, the Crew-10 mission splashed down, bringing back to Earth the seeds of two nutrient-rich crops that are indigenous to Ladakh: seabuckthorn and Himalayan buckwheat.

The seeds were a part of the jointly conducted “Emerging Space Nations’ Space for Agriculture & Agriculture for Space” experiment, which investigates how plants withstand the particular stressors of space, including as radiation, microgravity, and sharp temperature swings.

Earlier this year, NASA’s Crew-11 mission transported the payload to the ISS.

Seabuckthorn and Himalayan buckwheat are important parts of Ladakh’s agricultural legacy and are renowned for their remarkable nutritional and therapeutic qualities. Both species are perfect candidates for evaluating resilience in space habitats because they flourish in one of the most extreme conditions on Earth.

“This is the first-ever batch of seeds flown from Ladakh to space, symbolising resilient foods for cold, adverse environments,” said Siddharth Pandey, Director of Protoplanet, which collaborated on the experiment. “Part of them will be sent for scientific analysis by our researchers, while the rest will be gifted to the people of Ladakh to inspire coming generations. It also paves the way for quick access to space and the return of samples from India via our partnership with Jaguar. As a symbolic gesture for public awareness and inspiration, we will gift some seeds to the UT Ladakh government.”

Scientists hope that studying their genetic and metabolic responses to space exposure will reveal traits that could be harnessed for sustainable food production during long-duration space missions, and potentially enhance crop performance on Earth.

“The cold desert varieties from Ladakh already survive extreme conditions on our planet. By sending them to space, we push their resilience limits even further,” said a scientist associated with the experiment. “What we learn could help us grow food in places where it’s currently impossible, whether that’s on Mars or in arid regions here on Earth.”

The seeds will be subjected to a thorough laboratory investigation after they are returned in order to identify any genetic mutations, structural alterations, or metabolic changes brought on by the orbital environment.

These results may pave the way for the creation of more resilient crops that can resist the negative effects of climate change, including drought, poor soil quality, and severe temperatures.

The project also marks a major advancement for India in the field of space agriculture worldwide, highlighting Ladakh’s contribution to cutting-edge research with global ramifications.

As of right now, the small seeds have the potential to provide significant solutions for ensuring food supply in some of the most difficult settings on Earth, as well as for feeding people in deep space.