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Video archive
STS-120: In review
The STS-120 crew narrates highlights from its mission that delivered the station's Harmony module and moved the P6 power truss.
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Mission film
STS-123: TCDT
The STS-123 astronauts complete their countdown dress rehearsal at Kennedy Space Center.
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STS-123: To the pad
Endeavour travels to pad 39A in the overnight hours of Feb. 18 in preparation for liftoff on STS-123.
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Progress docking
The 28th Progress resupply ship launched to the International Space Station successfully docks.
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NASA '09 budget
NASA officials present President Bush's proposed Fiscal Year 2009 budget for the agency.
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Introduction to ATV
Preview the maiden voyage of European's first Automated Transfer Vehicle, named Jules Verne. The craft will deliver cargo to the International Space Station.
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Station repair job
Station commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Dan Tani replace a broken solar array drive motor during a 7-hour spacewalk.
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Mercury science
Scientists present imagery and instrument data collected by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft during its flyby of Mercury.
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Earth science update
NASA leaders discuss the agency's Earth science program and preview major activities planned for 2008, including the launch of three new satellites.
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Plant growth experiment starts in Columbus
EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY NEWS RELEASE
Posted: March 3, 2008
ESA astronaut Leopold Eyharts has activated the first experiment inside the European Columbus laboratory. The WAICO experiment, which investigates the effect of gravity on plant root growth, has started inside the module's Biolab facility.
Arabidopsis seedlings tilted at 45 degrees on hard agar surface. (Top) Wild type seedlings showing more root waving. (Bottom) Mutant strain showing more root coiling. Credits: G. Scherer
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WAICO, short for Waving and Coiling of Arabidopsis Roots at Different g-levels, looks at the growth of two types of Arabidopsis seed. In all, two different sets of seeds - wild type and genetically modified type - will be allowed to grow under varying levels of gravity, 0g and 1g, where g is the equivalent of gravity on Earth.
The tiny Arabidopsis seeds will be left to grow for 10 to 15 days, under controlled temperature, humidity and illumination conditions. Daily video images document how the roots grow in space. Using Biolab's telemetry capabilities, the video images are also made available on the ground for real-time observations.
As the seeds grow, the experiment's lead scientist, Professor Guenther Scherer from the Leibniz Universitat Hannover, Germany, will observe how the level of gravity affects the characteristic spiralling and coiling root growth seen on Earth.
The results of the WAICO experiment will contribute to a better understanding of plant growth processes and could help to increase the efficiency of agricultural processes on Earth.
With an eye on future plans for long-term human exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, WAICO could also contribute to our knowledge of growing crops in the space environment - providing astronauts with nutritional fresh produce during a voyage that could last as long as two years.
At the end of the experiment run, Biolab will automatically flush the cultivation box with a fixative, preserving the seeds in their final state of growth, ready for later analysis back on Earth. The astronaut will also document the plants' appearance at this time using high-resolution photography.
The seedlings are set to return to Earth with the next Shuttle mission, STS-123, targeted for launch on 11 March 2008 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
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