Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are growing plants as part of ongoing botany research, and a recently highlighted photo offers a look at that work in progress.
The image was taken by NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, who commands SpaceX's Crew-13 mission to the orbiting laboratory. It shows fellow NASA astronaut Luke Delaney at work with petri dishes and experiment modules designed to deepen scientists' understanding of how plants grow in the microgravity environment aboard the station.
The experiments Delaney is handling focus on the genetic responses of plants to that environment. In other words, the research aims to learn how plant genes behave when growth takes place in orbit rather than on the ground.
Plant science in space is far from new. Over the years, ISS astronauts have carried out a wide range of plant experiments and investigations. They have grown peppers and other edible produce, and they have also demonstrated that moss can survive outside the station, in the harsh conditions of space.
The photo also serves as a reminder that the station is not only a place of white and gray walls, computers, buttons and switches. It is also full of life other than the crew, thanks to the broad variety of biological experiments carried out onboard.
Space is often described as the final frontier, and researchers look outward to study subjects ranging from black holes to exploding stars. But the work done there also teaches people about their own planet. Satellites look back at Earth to study changing landforms, migrating wildlife, diminishing glaciers and natural disasters.
On the ISS, astronauts work with plants, animals and microscopic organisms, and they take part in a large number of studies that support human health and medical care. Much of the research performed in orbit is intended to benefit people back on Earth.
The image was featured as Space.com's space photo of the day for Oct. 21, 2026.
