A Co Dublin born scientist has presented a crop of shamrock grown on the space shuttle to the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mr Brendan Lynch. The shamrock was grown in a sealed chamber over a 10 day period on the shuttle, which travelled 4.1 million miles and, orbited the Earth 161 times.
A NASA biochemist and trainee astronaut, Dr Gerard Heyenga, of Skerries, specialises in experiments in life support systems in space.