NASA wants Australian wattle plants in space for clean air

ASTRONAUTS exploring the far reaches of our solar system could in the future be breathing clean air from Australian plants such as wattles.

The plants are a step closer to aiding deep space probes after the seeds of four types of Australian flora survived six months aboard the International Space Station.

Canadian-born NASA astronaut Gregory Chamitoff, who was on that mission aboard the shuttle Discovery last May, said the seeds completed more than 2800 orbits of the Earth with no signs of "space fatigue or damage".

"From NASA's perspective, we are interested in seeds that might be hardy enough to survive long duration exposure to the space environment and then germinate in greenhouses in space or on other planets," he said.

"Ultimately, this will be essential to support self-sustaining outposts or colonies with food and oxygen."

The wollemi pine, golden wattle, flannel flower and waratah seeds, germinated at the NSW Seedbank at Mount Annan Botanic Garden near Campbelltown, were exposed to microgravity - almost weightlessness - and low-level ionising radiation.

Dr Tim Entwistle, Executive Director of the Botanic Gardens Trust, which asked NASA to take the seeds into space, said wattle in particular held promise because of the long journeys needed for deep space exploration.