Science is blooming stronger than ever.
科學正在以前所未有的姿態綻放。

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted a photo over the weekend of the first flower to ever bloom in space. Kelly cared for the orange zinnia for over a month.
美國航天局（NASA）宇航員斯科特·凱利上周末在推特發了一張照片，展示了有史以來在太空中開放的首支花朵——一支橙色的百日菊。凱利培育了一個多月才得到它。

The Veggie plant growth facility aboard the International Space Station chose the zinnia flower species because its longer growth cycle can help astronauts and scientists understand how plants grow in microgravity.
國際空間站的蔬菜培育實驗室之所以選中百日菊，是因為它生長周期更長，宇航員和科學家因此能有更多時間觀察植株在微重力狀態下的生長情況。

"While the plants haven't grown perfectly," Gioia Massa, NASA science team lead for Veggie, said in a statement. "I think we have gained a lot from this, and we are learning both more about plants and fluids and also how better to operate between ground and station."
蔬菜實驗室NASA科學小組組長吉歐雅·馬薩在一份聲明中表示：“雖然這些植株長得還不算完美，但我覺得我們已經得到了不少收獲：我們了解了植物和液體在空間內的關系，也知道了空間站應該怎樣與地面實驗室協同運作。”

This was not the first time attempt at growing zinnias, though.
不過，這并不是空間站首次嘗試栽種百日菊。

Other astronauts aboard the ISS began growing the colorful flowers last year, but due to high humidity and low air flow, the plants leaked water out of the tips of their leaves. Mold was also affecting the growth.
國際空間站的其他宇航員去年就開始培育這種植物了，不過由于濕度大、空氣流動不暢，百日菊的水分都從葉片流失了。霉菌也影響了植株生長。

Kelly then took over the operation and began tending to the plants as he would in his own garden. The ISS also successfully grew red romaine lettuce in July 2015. Kelly even took a bite of the harvested plants and posted the photo on his Twitter account.
后來凱利接手試驗，他憑借在自家花園栽百日菊的經驗培育它們，終獲成功。2015年7月，國際空間站還成功培育出紅生菜。凱利甚至嘗了一口生菜，并把照片傳到自己的推特頁面。

NASA's next experimental growth using the Veggie plant growth system will be later this year. Astronauts will attempt to grow Chinese cabbage.
NASA蔬菜培育系統的下一個栽培項目將于今年晚些時候啟動。屆時宇航員將嘗試種植中國大白菜。

The space agency will then attempt at growing dwarf tomatoes in 2018.
NASA還計劃于2018年嘗試種植矮番茄。

Vocabulary
growth cycle：生長周期
Chinese cabbage：大白菜

英文來源：紐約每日新聞
編譯：杜娟