Pupils in St. Martin's Primary School, Garrison are taking part in a UK-wide live science experiment to contribute to our knowledge of growing plants in space. 

Hosted by the Royal Horticultural Society, the Rocket Science experiment saw two kilogrammes of rocket (Eruca sativa) seeds brought to the International Space Station (ISS) by European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen. British ESA astronaut Tim Peake took charge of the seeds for six months and they have been returned to Earth by astronaut Scott Kelly. 

Over 8,000 schools across the UK have now received 200 seeds - 100 which were in space for six months and 100 which remained on Earth. The seed packets are colour coded, however schools will not be told which packet contains which seeds until national results have been published.

Principal of St. Martin's, Brian McGrath said: "Our P7 pupils are taking part in a gardening experiment which is truly out of this world. Pupils have planted two packets of rocket seeds – one which has remained on Earth and one which has been 250 miles above us on the International Space Station. Astronaut Tim Peake looked after the seeds on the ISS and they returned to Earth last month. The pupils will observe what happens to both packs of seeds and make a determination as to which pack has been to the ISS. 
"The P7 pupils have been busy learning about the ISS and have been following Tim Peake’s messages through Twitter. They have also enjoyed watching an item on this topic on the BBC’s Blue Peter show."