Experiment

Dewey's Forest Begins on board Kibo

* All times are Japan Standard Time (JST)

JAXA Education Payload Observation 4 (EPO4) "Dewey's Forest"* began on board Kibo.

*Program Proposer: Shiro Matsui, Associate Professor, Kyoto City University of Arts

Cultivation of the Dewey's Forest began on board Kibo on December 29, 2009, after the first water was provided to the Dewey's Forest Plant Unit.

This project grows plants on culture beds in a plant unit. It is designed for astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to discover new aspects of nature on Earth while they grow the Dewey's Forest plants in space. Astronauts who are being away from Earth will have an opportunity to compare gardens on Earth and the small garden aboard the ISS. The project aims to inspire the astronauts to think about how humans and nature are related to each other, and how Ecosystem is invaluable and irreplaceable.

Over the next two months, the ISS astronauts will grow the Dewey's Forest plants on board the Kibo module.

Photo: Astronaut Noguchi holding the assembled Dewey's Forest Plant Unit （grayish oval objects hanging in the box are culture beds）.

*All times are Japan Standard Time (JST)