In the photograph, an orange flower spreads its petals over green leaves. Nothing seems extraordinary until we look where it grows: aboard the International Space Station, away from any earthly garden. NASA retains this image taken on January 22, 2016.
The zinnia is part of the VEG-01 experience. The plant was not transported to beautify a cabin: its growth belongs to a research program on growing plants in the space environment. Flowering thus brings a concrete observation, beyond the mere survival of a seed.
This flower has sometimes been presented as the first ever bloomed in space. This formula goes beyond what the photograph shows and erases previous experiences. However, it is enough to keep the exact fact for the image to keep its strength: in the middle of the equipment of an orbital station, a plant has accomplished what we usually expect from spring.
What we know
Zinnia of the VEG-01 experiment; no claim of the first space flower in history.
To go to the source
References consulted on 3 October 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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