ISRO recently shared a picture of a cowpea seed which sprouted in space. It is part of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center’s Compact Research Module for Orbital Plant Studies (CROPS) experiments being conducted parallelly to the SPADEX mission.
In a post on X Saturday, ISRO said that the cowpea seed sprouted in just four days. The experiment is expected to last 5-7 days and will be carried out until two-leaf stage in a microgravity environment. The agency said two days ago that the leaves are expected to grow soon.
Life sprouts in space! 🌱 VSSC’s CROPS (Compact Research Module for Orbital Plant Studies) experiment onboard PSLV-C60 POEM-4 successfully sprouted cowpea seeds in 4 days. Leaves expected soon. #ISRO #BiologyInSpace pic.twitter.com/QG7LU7LcRR
— ISRO (@isro) January 4, 2025
CROPS is one of 24 payloads that have been launched with SPADEX launched on December 30. It is the autonomous docking mission to connect two spacecraft in low-Earth orbit. ISRO said that the fully automated CROPS experiment is being carried out in a closed-box environment with simulated conditions including thermal control, O2 and CO2 concentrations, relative humidity (RH), temperature and soil moisture.
ALSO SEE: First Views Of ISRO’s SPADEX Satellites Captured In Earth Orbit; Watch
Another plant growth experiment aboard SPADEX is the Amity Plant Experimental Module in Space (APEMS) developed by Amity University. It is designed to study growth-related changes in the plant callus under microgravity and Earth gravity. According to ISRO, the sunlight is being simulated by LED lights and nutrients are being supplied using a gel medium.
SPADEX chaser captures an in-orbit space selfie video!
#ISRO #SpaceTech pic.twitter.com/5oCdmRLtTi
— ISRO (@isro) January 4, 2025
“The experiment’s outcome will provide insights into how higher plants sense the direction of gravity and light, and ameliorate itself to respond, to gravitational stress, and regulate their direction of growth, a basic need for boosting plant growth on Earth and during prolonged spaceflight missions,” ISRO said.
We also have the first orbital views captured by one of the two SPADEX spacecrafts on January 2.
Each of the SPADEX mission are carrying the additional experimental payloads that will be carried as ISRO practices docking in orbit. The docking is expected to take place after a week post launch. The mission is important for demonstrating technology necessary to successfully complete the Chandrayaan-4 mission and the Bharatiya Antariksha Station.
ALSO SEE: ISRO Successfully Launches One-Of-Its-Kind SPADEX Mission; Here’s What To Expect Next
(Image: ISRO)
