When Nigerian researcher Temidayo Oniosun chose the humble egusi seed for a space mission, it wasn’t just science he was thinking about — it was about carrying a piece of West Africa’s kitchen into the stars. Earlier this month, those seeds left the soil of Oyo State and blasted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Crew-11 capsule, part of a global project studying heritage crops in space.
For Oniosun, founder of Space in Africa, the decision was deeply personal. “Everybody in Nigeria eats egusi,” he explained, highlighting how this single seed connects families at home and in the diaspora. To him, egusi isn’t just food — it’s memory, culture, and identity rolled into one tiny seed.
Tucked neatly inside test tubes, the egusi seeds spent seven days aboard the International Space Station before making their way back to Earth on August 9. Their journey wasn’t smooth — bad weather delayed the rocket’s launch multiple times. Watching it finally take off, Oniosun admitted, felt nothing short of “surreal.”
Nigeria’s seed traveled alongside crops from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Armenia, and Pakistan, but stood out for a unique reason. While NASRDA (Nigeria’s space agency) contributed seeds strictly for agricultural research, Oniosun’s egusi was more than science — it was culture meeting technology, ensuring Africa’s native foods are part of tomorrow’s food systems on the Moon, Mars, or wherever humans go next.
Now safely back on Earth, scientists at the University of Florida are examining how space conditions may have affected the egusi. Their findings could determine if this nutrient-rich staple can thrive in space — and one day feed astronauts on long missions.
But for Oniosun, the mission was about something far greater. It was proof that Africa’s story deserves a seat at the table of global innovation. And when humanity finally settles among the stars, one thing is sure — egusi soup will not be left behind.
