HIGH school pupils will embark on a voyage of discovery by planting 100 seeds that have been into space.

Colchester High School is set to have 2kg of seeds delivered in March, which were launched to the International Space Station in September in a Soyuz 44S rocket.

While the seeds are still floating in microgravity, the pupils are already preparing for their gardening experiment to find out if space seeds grow faster than normal plants.

The project is part of Rocket Science, launched by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Campaign for School Gardening and the UK Space Agency.

It aims to encourage pupils to think about how humans could survive on another planet, what astronauts need to survive long-term missions and the difficulties of growing fresh food in challenging climates.

Mr Young, school principal, said: “We are very excited to be taking part in Rocket Science.

“This experiment is a fantastic way of teaching our pupils to think more scientifically and share their findings with the whole school.”

Colchester High School, in Wellesley Road, will be one of up to 10,000 schools to receive a packet of seeds from space.

The pupils will not know which seed packet contains which seeds until all results have been collected by the RHS and analysed by professional biostatisticians.

Applications to take part in Rocket Science are still open and will close in March next year or until all packs have been allocated.

Schools and educational groups can apply at rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening.