Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have revealed pictures of the first flowers grown outside of Earth's atmosphere - a crop of edible zinnias
Last year Mark Watney thrilled cinema audiences with his story of survival on Mars by (among other things) growing potatoes in space - declaring 'I am the greatest botanist on this planet!'
And now it seems that the real-life astronauts aboard the International Space Station have decided to take a leaf out of his book after growing the first flowers to bloom outside of Earth's atmosphere.
Revealed by U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly, who is currently completing the first full year in space, the flower is an edible zinnia - which can be used in salads.
The flowers were grown inside the Veggie lab aboard ISS which was installed in early May 2014.
While the ISS crew had previously raised two crops of romaine lettuce and arugula, the zinnias were the first flowering plants grown in space.
Explaining the significance of successfully growing a plant, Veggie project manager Trent Smith said: 'The zinnia plant is very different from lettuce.
'It is more sensitive to environmental parameters and light characteristics. It has a longer growth duration between 60 and 80 days.
'Thus, it is a more difficult plant to grow, and allowing it to flower, along with the longer growth duration, makes it a good precursor to a tomato plant.'
While the crop was ultimately a success, there were fears that all the plants might die after they began leaking water from their leaves causing mold to grow
A fan was then brought in an attempt to dry the plants out, but this caused them to become dehydrated and two of the plants perished over the New Year
However, by January 8 American astronaut Scott Kelly reported new growth on the remaining plans and beds (pictured) which eventually turned into the flowers
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