Plants return to Earth after growing in space

Astronaut Reid Wiseman injected a fixative solution onto the seedlings. Credit: NASA

Researchers at Simon Gilroy's lab in the Department of Botany at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this afternoon greeted a truck carrying small containers holding more than 1,000 frozen plants that germinated and grew aboard the International Space Station.

On Tuesday, when Gilroy's team inspected the plants at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, they saw exactly what they wanted: Petri dishes holding seedlings that sprouted and grew in weightlessness.

After their arrival in Madison, the plants went directly into a deep freeze. After being thawed in a few months, they will donate their RNA to an instrument that will measure the activity of all of their approximately 30,000 genes.

Half of the plants will become subjects in Gilroy's longstanding exploration of the genetic control of the proteins that enable plants to grow in zero gravity. "Gravity is a fantastically pervasive force that affects all biology," says Gilroy. "One astronaut observed that plants get lazy in a weightless environment; they grow long and thin, and don't lay down strong material, just like people lose bone mass in space because it isn't needed for supporting weight."

The other half of the experiment represents a departure for Gilroy, and for NASA, the agency supporting this area of space research. After these plants undergo a similar genetic analysis at UW-Madison's Biotech Center, the data will get an initial check-over from Gilroy's group. And then a treasure trove of digital data on plant genetic activity in microgravity will be made available to any researcher interested in mining it.

"Access to space is very rare," Gilroy says. "Traditionally, a research group will put an experiment in space, get the results and publish. But NASA is trying a new mode, called geneLAB, where the research group will put organisms in space, then, as soon as possible, release the raw data to anyone who wants to analyze it. They hope it will speed up major advances on these tiny samples that we can afford to place in space. I see this as open-source science."

Through the process called transcription, genes produce RNA that becomes the template for proteins, and in both sets of experiments, the RNA data will show which genes become more or less active in microgravity, when compared to an identical set of plants grown on Earth.

While Gilroy plans to focus on structural proteins, the geneLAB experiment compares four variants of Arabidopsis called ecotypes. "This data should provide a broad field of investigation -- far more than one lab can handle," Gilroy says. "We are going to end up with an enormous amount of transcription data. We will do some initial work to check the major genes which go up or down, but there's tremendous potential for further analysis by other labs around the world."

But while the geneLab approach sounds promising, Gilroy concedes that it carries no guarantees. "This may be a path forward in crowd-sourcing science. At the least, as a single lab we could never analyze this data as fully as many labs around the world all working with it."

The "Biological Research in Canister" containers that held these experiments on board the space station were designed, tested and operated according to NASA's rigorous approach, Gilroy says. "Each project represents an enormous investment, and you really want everything to go perfectly. You become one of the most careful scientists in the world. You test everything, make duplicates, and are always considering what may go wrong so you can do another test."

NASA is an unfamiliar world to most botanists, but Gilroy seems to be enjoying every step of the way, and has even learned the organization's peculiar parlance. "At first, talking in acronyms is very strange," he says, "and you can't understand anything when NASA people start going into NASA-speak. But once you get into it, you catch yourself doing the exact same thing."

In the microgravity experiments, Gilroy is exploring the genetic basis of a phenomenon known to gardeners and horticulturalists for many years. Plants that grow up without mechanical stresses -- due to wind, rain or other disturbances -- "are much more susceptible to pests, are not as robust," Gilroy says, "but if you go into a greenhouse and shake the plants, they grow up more compact, strong, and resistant to stress. They are even more resistant to plant diseases."

It turns out that the same signaling system used to detect mechanical stresses like gravity is also used to defend against pathogens. That may explain why plants in space appear more susceptible to disease.

That overlap raises the stakes for understanding the impact of gravity on plants beyond the notion of building stronger crops that can stand up in the field. Understanding the signals could help in the never ending battle against plant disease.

Likewise, NASA has its own practical interest in the research: Plants will supply food and oxygen for long-distance space travel, and keeping them healthy will be a matter of life and death. "If you are growing plants as part of a human life support system," Gilroy says, "you'd rather not have them suddenly die."

Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Breezy science, plant studies and more head to space station on SpaceX-4

This Artist's rendering of the ISS-RapidScat instrument (inset), will measure ocean surface wind speed and direction and help improve weather forecasts. It will be installed on the end of the station's Columbus laboratory. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Johnson Space Center

Imagine a dragon flying through the heavens on mighty, outstretched wings. The majestic beast knows the currents of winds and how to harness their power as it soars above the clouds. SpaceX's real Dragon -- the company's spacecraft that transports supplies and science to the International Space Station (ISS) -- will deliver, and later return, new technology, biology and biotechnology and Earth and space science research to the orbiting outpost.

One of the new Earth science investigations heading into orbit is the ISS-Rapid Scatterometer (ISS-RapidScat). ISS-RapidScat monitors ocean winds from the vantage point of the space station. This space-based scatterometer is a remote sensing instrument that uses radar pulses reflected from the ocean's surface at different angles to calculate surface wind speed and direction. This information will be useful for weather forecasting and hurricane monitoring.

"We'll be able to see how wind speed changes with the time of day," said Ernesto Rodríguez, principal investigator for ISS-RapidScat at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "ISS-RapidScat will link together all previous and current scatterometer missions, providing us with a more complete picture of how ocean winds change. Combined with data from the European ASCAT scatterometer mission, we'll be able to observe 90 percent of Earth's surface at least once a day, and in many places, several times a day."

In addition to improving weather models, RapidScat enhances measurements from other international scatterometers by cross-checking their data. Due to its unique orbit, RapidScat will observe different parts of the planet at different times of day. This allows the instrument to track the effects of the sun on ocean winds as the day progresses. Because the instrument reuses leftover hardware originally built to test parts of the now inoperable NASA QuikScat scatterometer, this investigation demonstrates a unique way to replace an instrument aboard an aging satellite.

New biomedical hardware launching on SpaceX's fourth commercial resupply mission to the space station will facilitate prolonged biological studies in microgravity. The Rodent Research Hardware and Operations Validation (Rodent Research-1) investigation provides a platform for long-duration rodent experiments in space. These experiments examine how microgravity affects animals, providing information relevant to human spaceflight, discoveries in basic biology and knowledge that may have direct impact toward human health on Earth. Rodent Research-1 tests the operational capabilities of the new hardware system, including the transporter, rodent habitat and access unit.

Because rodents experience developmental stages and aging processes more quickly than humans, they make ideal research model organisms to infer information about disease development and progression in humans. Model organisms are non-human species with characteristics that allow them easily to be maintained, reproduced and studied in a laboratory.

"In the coming years, rodent studies conducted aboard the space station will gather foundational data that will help advance human space exploration and provide new opportunities to improve quality of life on Earth," said Ruth Globus, Ph.D., Rodent Research Project scientist and researcher in the Space Biosciences Division at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

Another biological research investigation aboard Dragon includes a new plant study. The Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC) hardware has supported a variety of plant growth experiments aboard the space station. The BRIC-19 investigation, the first to collect data for the geneLAB research platform, will focus on the growth and development of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings in microgravity. A. thaliana is a small flowering plant related to cabbage, and its genetic makeup is simple and well-understood by the plant biology community. This knowledge offers easy recognition of any changes that occur as a result of microgravity adaptation.

Plant development on Earth is impacted by mechanical forces such as wind or a plant's own weight. Researchers hope to get a better understanding of how the growth responses of plants are altered by the absence of these forces when grown in microgravity.

The BRIC hardware helps to maximize research and minimize space and crew time since it does not use power to operate and the canister is the size of a bread box. This study may add to the collective body of knowledge about basic plant growth phenomena and could help improve farming practices on Earth.

In addition to Earth and biological science studies, several new technology demonstrations are making their way to the space station. One of those, known as the Special Purpose Inexpensive Satellite, or SpinSat, will test how a small satellite moves and positions itself in space using new thruster technology. It will launch into orbit from the space station through the new Cyclops small satellite deployer, also known as the Space Station Integrated Kinetic Launcher for Orbital Payload Systems (SSIKLOPS).

SpinSat is a spherical satellite measuring 22 inches in diameter. It will test advanced thruster technology that uses a new class of non-pyrotechnic materials known as Electrically-Controlled Solid Propellants (ESP). ESPs are ignited only by electric current.

Researchers can use high-resolution atmospheric data captured by SpinSat to determine the density of the thermosphere, one of the uppermost layers of the atmosphere. With better knowledge of the thermosphere, engineers and scientists can refine satellite and telecommunications technology.

Another new technology demonstration catching a ride on the Dragon is the 3-D Printing In Zero-G Technology Demonstration (3-D Printing In Zero-G), which will be the first ever 3-D printer in space. Additive manufacturing could enable parts to be manufactured quickly and cheaply in space, instead of waiting for the next cargo resupply vehicle delivery. The research team also can gain valuable insight into improving 3-D printing technology on Earth by demonstrating it in microgravity.

With so many new investigations that directly impact human life, this Dragon's delivery is helping the space station make discoveries off the Earth, for the Earth.

Source: Nasa

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CASIS research set for launch aboard SpaceX mission to space station

The Bone Densitometer developed by Techshot, Inc. will enable X-ray testing for research studies aboard the International Space Station. Credit: CASIS

This fall marks another commercial cargo flight to the International Space Station. In September, SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to blast off to the orbital laboratory carrying supplies and investigations as part of the company's fourth contracted mission to the complex.

Included in the cargo will be the third suite of research investigations sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS). With the role of managing the U.S. National Laboratory on the space station, CASIS is responsible for brokering and facilitating research investigations on the station with clear Earth applications and benefits.

The latest collection of CASIS-sponsored research, termed Advancing Research Knowledge (ARK)-2, centers heavily on life sciences. Studies include those focused on drug development, disease understanding and validation testing. Each investigation will use the unique conditions aboard the space station to advance researchers' understanding in those areas of study.

Additionally, CASIS and NASA have partnered with Techshot Inc., of Greenville, Indiana, to develop a new hardware device capable of assisting with research that may improve understandings of muscle wasting and diseases like osteoporosis.

The CASIS-sponsored hardware and life science investigations destined for the space station's national laboratory include the Bone Densitometer, which will be the first X-ray machine installed on the space station. A joint project between CASIS, NASA and Techshot, the facility will be instrumental in conducting rodent research on station. The Bone 

Densitometer will allow astronauts to examine bone density of model organisms in space through the use of Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) technology. In short, researchers will be able to assess bone density loss by measuring energy levels absorbed by bones via the device.

The Rodent Research-1 investigation kicks off a series of NASA and CASIS-sponsored investigations focused on rodent research aboard the space station. The study will be the first to use the Bone Densitometer in an effort to help scientists examine the effects of long duration spaceflight. There are numerous applications to these investigations including studying bone loss, muscle atrophy and cardiovascular anomalies. However, the primary focus of this inaugural mission will be to assess the operational capabilities of the new hardware designed for these investigations.

The Drug Metabolism study will assist researchers in the area of drug development and human biology. This investigation is led by a scientist from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Dr. Timothy Hammond, who is looking to study yeast cells in microgravity. The goal of this investigation is to explore the changes in these cells in space to improve drug development for various diseases, including cancer therapeutics.

The Protein Crystal Optimization study is an investigation aiming to leverage the unique location of the space station to examine the internal structure of three medically important proteins. The space environment should allow researchers to grow the selected protein crystals to an optimal size and quality to allow for closer examination via neutron diffraction. This protein crystal growth in microgravity may reveal new characteristics that are masked by gravity on Earth. By studying these three proteins, medically relevant to salmonella infection, peptic ulcer disease, and biomarkers for heart attack and liver disease, researchers can apply insights towards improved treatments.

A New Era In Commercial Use of the Space Station

The space station's national laboratory affords researchers the ability to conduct experiments in a distinctive environment with factors and variables that are near impossible to replicate on the ground. With access to our nation's only orbiting laboratory, CASIS works with new and non-traditional users to take advantage of this resource. A great example of novel commercial research heading to station is the Cobra Puma Golf investigation.

The Cobra Puma Golf-electroplating investigation, also launching aboard SpaceX, is a materials science investigation sponsored by CASIS in collaboration with COBRA PUMA Golf (CPG). The CPG research and development team will examine the impacts of microgravity on electroplating -- the process of coating a metallic surface using an electric current. The study will test a variety of coating substances on materials used in golf equipment manufacturing. The insight gained from this investigation will aid CPG in identifying improved material development techniques.

CPG's project is another example of a commercial user leveraging the capabilities of the ISS National Lab to advance ground research. Through brokering research investigations with commercial companies, CASIS hopes to demonstrate the space station is not only a test-bed for groundbreaking research and development, but a unique laboratory that can help differentiate investigations initiatives from ground-based studies.

The mission is another milestone for the space community, showcasing how commercial endeavors can work hand-in-hand with research goals. The studies of ARK-2 exemplify the diverse possibilities for the space station and users of the research platform. From commercial launch providers that transport investigations to space, to commercial researchers looking to use the national laboratory, science in space is good for life on Earth.

Source: NASA

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