Plant Study in Space

When the space shuttle makes its launch to the Space Station on Monday, hopefully because the launch was scrubbed for Sunday, it will take an interesting experiment about how seeds will grow in space. From the article:

NASA scientists hope to better understand exactly how and why plants grow differently in space in an experiment named, Tropi. Future astronauts may be able to grow plants as part of life support systems on long-duration space missions to the moon or Mars.The European Space Agency developed the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS), a facility focused on plant biology research located on the station. Once in orbit, NASA astronauts Jeff Williams and T.J. Creamer will place the experiment containers in the EMCS incubator to conduct the experiment in a temperature, humidity and atmosphere-controlled environment.

Once the experiment begins, the seeds will be spun continuously in centrifuges to achieve varying levels of gravity and provided fresh water. The first three days are considered the "growth phase" of the experiment, when the ECs will be exposed to gravity forces similar to Earth's. After the first 32 hours of the experiment, when the seeds will remain mostly in darkness, they will be illuminated with white LED lights. The last three days of the experiment are called the "stimulation phase," when they will be "photostimulated" - or constantly exposed to red, blue or a combination of red and blue LED lights. During the final phase of the experiment, cameras in the centrifuge facility will take three images per minute to collect the majority of the science data.

You can read more Here.
This kind of story should be on the evening news, in a newspaper, or at least a mention somewhere like on the internet because this kind of study helps us move forward as humans. I wish all forms of science were as important to people as the Superbowl. I know certain sports are fun and a distraction from the day to day things in life, however I wish the amount of money spent on this particular event could be spent on scientific research, but then again that is just me.

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