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Traverse Area District Library Partners With International Space Station for Out of this World Experiment

Over a dozen schools across the country are helping the with this innovative experiment.

But only one is a public library, and it’s here in Northern Michigan.

“This just gives us a chance to reconnect with the ISS and help inspire curiosity in space,” says Andy Schuck, coordinator for youth services at the

TADL has officially launched its own . This collaborative project is designed to figure out the effects micro-gravity has on living things.

“The experiment itself is a black eyed pea seed that’s growing in a soil like substitute and we’re going to measure how ours compares to the one on the ISS,” Schuck says.

Former Astronaut Gregory H Johnson says, “When you take any biological or physical process outside of the atmosphere into space, they behave differently; cells interact differently, genes express differently.”

The library is comparing how the carbon dioxide levels, radiation, light, and humidity affect the seeds.

Schuck says, “The goal is to really figure that out, to see can plants, do plants grow in space, how does micro-gravity effect it and then how do we grow something that humans can thrive on.”

Johnson says he’s excited because this experiment could determine if we could grow food in space.

“I mean wouldn’t it be cool if we could grow these plants on the moon or on mars and feed the people, the colonists that travel there in the future.”

A partnership that’s launched to new heights to try to understand our universe a little bit better.

Johnson says, “They may learn something extraordinary, but they’re certainly going to learn how it is to be part of a bigger effort to learn about our world.”

The library’s experiment with the international space station will run until April 2.