Tanpopo (mission)

Tanpopo is a space mission which sent a little container filled with tiny seeds out into space. That container then landed on a part of the International Space Station called the Japanese Experiment Module. The little seeds were left there for about 600 days to see what would happen to them while they were in space.

The main goal of this mission was to see if life can survive in space. Scientists wanted to see if the seeds could still grow even though they were in an environment that is very different from Earth - there is no gravity, different amounts of light, and different kinds of radiation. They also wanted to see if the seeds would be affected by the stress of being in space, like extreme temperatures or lack of water.

After some time, the container was brought back to Earth and the scientists examined the seeds to see what had happened to them. They found out that some of the seeds had grown slightly differently than they would have on Earth, and some of them had mutations. They also found that some seeds were affected more than others by the conditions in space.

Overall, the Tanpopo mission helped us learn more about what happens to life when it's in space. By studying the seeds, scientists can better understand how to protect astronauts and future space missions from the harsh conditions of space.