Sir Isaac Newton's Tree to fly in zero-gravity space

A piece of Sir Isaac Newton's apple tree is set to defy gravity, the theory it is alleged to have inspired, by being carried into space on the next Nasa shuttle mission.

The wood sample is from the original tree from which an apple is said to have fallen, leading Newton to devise his theory of gravity.

The sample, which is normally held in the Royal Society's archives, was lent to British-born astronaut Dr Piers Sellers, who will take it into orbit.

The Atlantis shuttle will lift off for on 14 May carrying six crew members. The 12-day mission is expected to be the Nasa shuttle's last.

The move is part of the Royal Society's 350th anniversary celebrations. The tree sample will be accompanied on its trip into space by an image of Sir Isaac, which was also donated by the Royal Society.

Dr Sellers, who was selected as an astronaut candidate by Nasa in 1996, said he and the other team members were "delighted" to be taking a piece of the historic tree into orbit.

"While it's up there, it will be experiencing no gravity, so if it had an apple on it, the apple wouldn't fall," he said.

Dr Sellers went on to quip: "I'm pretty sure that Sir Isaac would have loved to see this, assuming he wasn't spacesick, as it would have proved his first law of motion to be correct."

Sir Isaac Newton, a physicist and mathematician, is widely regarded as being one of the greatest scientists of his era.