Location
Radisson Resort at the Port, Convention Center, Salon I
Start Date
2-4-2002 2:00 PM
End Date
2-5-2002 5:00 PM
Description
Using radish as a model system, the RASTA project (Radish Assimilation in Spaceflight Testbed Atmospheres) will be investigating carbon partitioning of salad crops in microgravity. Before this goal can be accomplished, the effects of the unique environment of orbiting spacecraft on growth and development of radish must be characterized so they can be separated from those of microgravity. The environmental conditions on ISS and the space shuttle most likely to effect carbon partitioning in radish are air temperature, CO2 concentration and atmospheric contaminants. Several radish cultivars were grown in temperatures ranging from 18-30°C at ambient (400 part per million [ppm]) or elevated (1,500, 3,000 and 10,000 ppm) CO2. The effects of temperature and CO2 on growth and development of these cultivars were characterized and a high temperature cultivar was identified. In a separate series of experiments, radishes were exposed to different levels of ethylene, a biologically active volatile organic compound, to characterize its impact on radish growth and development over a range of concentrations. With these environmental characterizations, the effect of microgravity on carbon partitioning can be more readily separated from environmental factors coincidental to the spacecraft environment.
Paper Session III-B - Characterization of Potential ISS/Space Shuttle Environmental Conditions on Growth and Development of R. Sativus: Ground Studies for the Rasta Space Flight Experiment
Radisson Resort at the Port, Convention Center, Salon I
Using radish as a model system, the RASTA project (Radish Assimilation in Spaceflight Testbed Atmospheres) will be investigating carbon partitioning of salad crops in microgravity. Before this goal can be accomplished, the effects of the unique environment of orbiting spacecraft on growth and development of radish must be characterized so they can be separated from those of microgravity. The environmental conditions on ISS and the space shuttle most likely to effect carbon partitioning in radish are air temperature, CO2 concentration and atmospheric contaminants. Several radish cultivars were grown in temperatures ranging from 18-30°C at ambient (400 part per million [ppm]) or elevated (1,500, 3,000 and 10,000 ppm) CO2. The effects of temperature and CO2 on growth and development of these cultivars were characterized and a high temperature cultivar was identified. In a separate series of experiments, radishes were exposed to different levels of ethylene, a biologically active volatile organic compound, to characterize its impact on radish growth and development over a range of concentrations. With these environmental characterizations, the effect of microgravity on carbon partitioning can be more readily separated from environmental factors coincidental to the spacecraft environment.
