IN-FLIGHT ACQUISITION OF ENGINEERING DATA FOR PLANT GROWTH SYSTEMS DESIGN

THE USE OF HIGHER PLANTS IN SUPPORT OF SPACE HABITABILITY IS A LOGICAL AND REASONABLE GOAL IN PLANNING FOR LONG TERM SPACE ACTIVITY. HOWEVER, THE CONCEPTS AND DATA FOR ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THIS GOAL ARE NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. THE BASIS FOR THIS PROJECT IS THE RECOGNITION THAT EFFECTIVE DESIGN OF ZERO G-RATED SYSTEMS FOR PLANT CULTURE WILL DEPEND UPON AVAILABILITY OF A BASELINE OF BIOPHYSICAL DATA GENERATED UNDER ZERO GRAVITY CONDITIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL UNDERTAKE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEM FOR ROUTINE EXPOSURE OF PLANTS OR PLANT MODELS AIMED AT GENERATION OF THE NECESSARY ENGINEERING DATA. A PROTOCOL FOR REPETITIVE TEST CYCLES KEYED TO SUCCESSIVE SHUTTLE FLIGHTS AND A STANDARD TEST CHAMBER FOR CONTAINMENT OF TEST FIXTURES WILL BE DEVELOPED. A ROUTINE PROGRAM OF TESTS WILL BE PLANNED FOR A PERIOD OF SEVERAL YEARS WITH A GRADUAL INCORPORATION OF DATA INTO PREDICTIVE MODELS OF PLANT GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY IN MICRO-G. THE ACCUMULATING RESULTS OF THESE STUDIES WILL BE UTILIZED IN OPTIMIZATION OF INCREASINGLY LARGE AND COMPLEX SPACE-RATED PLANT CULTURE SYSTEMS.