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British astronaut Tim Peake visits Woolsthorpe Manor near Grantham to award 'space saplings' to competition winners




Astronaut Tim Peake visited Woolsthorpe Manor today to present seven special 'space saplings' to winners of a competition.

The British European Space Agency astronaut was on hand to present the saplings after he was launched into space to the International Space Station in 2015 as part of the Principia mission, named after the work by Sir Isaac Newton who was born at Woolsthorpe Manor. Seeds from the Flower of Kent apple tree at Woolsthorpe were also blasted into space and were left to float in zero gravity on the space station before they were returned to earth to be nurtured into young trees.

A competition was launched at the Gravity Fields Festival in 2018 to find new homes for the trees and the seven winners were announced today.

Speaking to the Journal after planting the eighth 'space sapling' in the orchard at the Manor, close to Newton's apple tree, Tim said: "It's hugely inspiring to be here. I mean Sir Isaac Newton would have looked down on this apple tree and pondered the laws of universal motion and gravity and here we are now awarding seven saplings and planting one which have germinated from seeds from that very tree which have had an incredible journey up into space flying at 25 times the speed of sound."

Tim, who was visiting the manor for the first time and is hoping to go back into space before 2024, added: "This is a culmination of a five-year project and I hope that these saplings will now go off to these establishments around the UK and continue to inspire our younger generation of scientists and engineers."

Among the winners of the competition were The Eden Project, Jodrell Bank Observatory and the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre.

Andrea Leadsom, secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, also spoke at the event. She said: “Being here at Woolsthorpe Manor, I can only imagine what Sir Isaac Newton would have made of today’s event, celebrating a mission named after his Principia Mathematica, which included taking pips from the apple tree in his garden to space and back. What an extraordinary thing for him to have foreseen.”

“Space is absolutely crucial to solving the grand challenges that face our society today. Across the UK and across the world today, we are seeing a second space age.”

“Our space sector is literally booming all across the country and it is my own personal mission to see it grow, creating 30,000 more jobs across the next decade.”



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