A Zinnia in Space! Scott Kelly is the American astronaut currently living on the International Space Station (ISS) 
Over the weekend, Kelly sent out a tweet containing a photo of a flower. The species (zinnia) was chosen because of its longer growth cycle and because it may help scientists understand how flowers can grow in microgravity.
Trent Smith, who is in charge of Veggie, a program to grow fresh food in space, said of Zinnia:
It is more sensitive to environmental parameters and light. It has a longer growth period between 60 and 80 days. It is one of the most difficult plants to grow, and thus cultivating the flower with the longest growth period, is a good precursor for future tomato plants.
Kelly started growing Zinnias late last year, but ran into problems after a few weeks. High humidity and low airflow caused problems for the plants.
Soon, mold began to form on their leaves. Kelly made some changes to his plans for caring for the Zinnias.
He decided to ignore the instructions for watering the plants and started doing it as he would in his own garden. Soon, he had a Zinnia in bloom.
First ever flower grown in space makes its debut! #SpaceFlower #zinnia #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/2uGYvwtLKr
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) January 16, 2016
