日本將送櫻花樹種上太空

Japan's famed cherry trees have carried the hearts of a nation for centuries but they will soon enjoy another honour -- their seeds being blasted into outer space.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has approved a project to send the seeds of cherry trees to the Japanese laboratory at the International Space Station, officials said Tuesday.

Japan Manned Space Systems Corp., a Tokyo-based private-sector consortium of 55 companies, organised the cherry seeds' half-a-year stay in space in part to see whether or how microgravity would affect them.

"Scientific observation is one reason. But we also want the seeds to travel in space on our behalf as few ordinary people can go now," Manned Space Systems spokeswoman Yuko Otake said.

Cherry trees' annual springtime blooming is a time for nationwide revelry in Japan, where friends and colleagues hold boisterous picnics to enjoy the short-lived beauty of the blossoms.

The space project will send lily and violet seeds along with the seeds from 10 cherry trees, including three designated by the government as natural treasures and touted as producing Japan's most beautiful blossoms.

One of the three ancient trees, named Takizakura, or "cascade cherry blossoms," draws 300,000 viewers for the three weeks it is in bloom in the small northern town of Miharu.

Elementary school pupils in Miharu will pick some 200 fallen seeds in June or July for the space project. The town will share the returned seeds with research institutions.

"Since the seeds will be returned with a certificate that they have gone to space, we hope to use them to promote tourism here while drawing children's interest in science," town official Sadafumi Hirata said.

The town will also plant some seeds, he said. "We are very proud that our tree was selected among many cherry blossoms that represent Japan," he said.

The seeds will be lifted off into space around October and are expected to return to Earth early next year.

Japan has an increasingly ambitious space programme and last month began to set up its first space laboratory, which was blasted off on the US space shuttle Endeavour.

幾個世紀以來，櫻花一直是日本人的至愛。而日本久負盛名的櫻花不久將得到另一份殊榮――它們的種子將被送往太空。

日本有關官員於本週二稱，日本航空航天研究開發所已批准送櫻花樹種去太空的項目，這批樹種將被送往國際空間站的日本實驗室。

“櫻花樹種太空之旅”爲期半年，其目的之一是觀測微重力是否會影響以及如何影響這些樹種。日本載人航天系統私人企業財團組織此項目，該財團總部位於東京，共由55家公司組成。

日本載人航天系統財團的女發言人大竹有宏說：“進行科學觀測是一個方面，我們還希望這些種子能代表我們去太空旅行，因爲目前普通人還無法前往太空。”

每年春季櫻花綻放之時，日本到處都會舉行熱鬧非凡的花見會，朋友、同事們聚在一起，一邊野炊，一邊欣賞櫻花那轉瞬即逝的美。

除10棵櫻花樹種外，一同被送往太空的還有百合花種和紫羅蘭花種。在入選的10棵櫻花樹中包括被日本政府指定爲“國家自然遺產”的三大名櫻，據說它們能開出日本最美麗的櫻花。

三大古代名櫻之一、日本北部小鎮三春的“三春滝櫻”盛開三週以來吸引了30萬人前來觀賞。

三春鎮的小學生們將於今年六、七月份爲該項目挑撿出約200顆落下的櫻花樹種。此外，三春鎮還將與研究機構共同分享返回地球的樹種。

三春鎮官員平田定文說：“從太空返回地球的種子都將被授予一個證書，我們希望能利用它們來發展當地的旅遊業，同時增加孩子們對科學的興趣。”

他說，三春鎮還將播種其中一些種子。他還說：“我們很自豪我們的樹能從那麼多櫻花樹中脫穎而出，代表日本前往太空。”

這些種子將於10月左右被送往太空，預計明年初返回地球。

日本在太空探索方面的“野心”越來越大，日本已於上月開始在國際空間站建立其首個太空實驗室，該實驗室是由美國“奮進號”航天飛機送入太空的。