SALISBURY astronaut Major Tim Peake will be taking a unique cargo with him to the International Space Station when he blasts off in November.

As part of an experiment to see if plant life can survive zero gravity he will take more than one million rocket seeds into space and distribute them to 10,000 schools when he returns alongside batch of seeds that have stayed on Earth.

The schools will then grow them and as part of the Rocket Science project will compare the findings.

The results of the nationwide citizen science experiment will then be analysed to discover whether space travel has impacted on the growth of the seeds.

Major Peake said: "It’s a huge privilege to be the first British ESA astronaut flying to the International Space Station. During my six-month tour, I’ll be conducting a number of experiments on the International Space Station.

"I hope that Rocket Science will inspire the next generation to think scientifically, and to consider the fulfilling careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)."