Española chile seeds are headed to space station

New Mexico green chile seeds at long last will launch into space late Thursday morning.

The NuMex Española Improved seeds are part of the 22nd mission to bring supplies to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:29 a.m. Mountain time.

The specific seed variety was selected out of 40 other pepper possibilities, The New

Mexican reported last year. The peppers were chosen for their high vitamin C content and faster-than-average growth rate.

They’re part of a NASA study on how to grow crops without gravity as NASA works toward landing on Mars in the 2030s and eventually having people inhabit the planet.

Española resident Jacob Torres, a scientist and horticulturalist, is part of the team that has been preparing the study for more than two years. He was integral in helping select the perfect pepper for the study.

The supplies will be launched by the SpaceX Falcon9 rocket and carried by the Dragon cargo spacecraft, which is the first private cargo craft to berth the International Space Station.

SpaceX, the private space company started by Elon Musk, carries cargo to the station under a commercial agreement with NASA.

The chile seeds, along with materials for other scientific studies surrounding space — like tardigrade adaptations to space, cotton root systems and kidney disease treatments — are anticipated to land at the space station Saturday.