Earlier this month, three species of fungi were sent up into space by the Swinburne University of Technology.
Samples of Lion’s Mane, Turkey’s Tail, and Cordyceps have been sent to the International Space Station in order to study the growth of mycelium in zero gravity. Whereas the samples won’t have enough space to bloom into fruiting bodies, what most people understand to be mushrooms, the experiment will still show us how mycelium grows and adapts to a microgravity environment.
The experiment was spearheaded by Dr. Sara Webb and Dr Rebecca Allen and was designed, tested, and built with the assistance of students from Haileybury College.
The reason for the experiment is to see how mycelium can survive and adapt in the unique conditions of space, with the hope that in the future mushrooms can help support the diet and health of astronauts on lengthy space missions. Mushrooms are not only a fantastic source of nutrients, but there are currently experiments to see whether they can be used in building structures on other planets.
High school students from the Swinburne Haileybury International Space Station Experiment program, or SHINE, helped researchers every step of the way. Dr. Webb spoke on the significance of the program, and its importance in inspiring the next generation of leaders in STEM subjects.
The samples are currently residing on the space station, with stranded astronauts you may have seen in the news – Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore. What was supposed to be a short stay in space has turned into a more prolonged ordeal, and they are set to live on the space station until February 2025.
The mushrooms are anticipated to return to Earth in the coming weeks, where they will be grown in lab conditions before being compared to a control group of mushrooms that have never left Earth.
