Formation of an Interactive Plant Outreach Database with Integration of Clinostat Data for Space Lif

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Formation of an Interactive Plant Outreach
Database with Integration of Clinostat Data for
Space Life Sciences Education
Rachel Naegele1, Chinyere Nwokeabia2, Peter
Chetirkin3, William Payne4 1University of Hawaii
Manoa, 2California State University, Long Beach,
3Dynamac Corporation, 4Matrix Information Systems
Incorporated
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INITIAL DESCRIPTION

• An interactive plant outreach database (IPOD)
  would increase the accessibility of data to
  researchers, teachers and the general public. To
  demonstrate how future experiments can be
  integrated into IPOD, a 5 week experiment using
  clinostats was performed. The clinostats tested
  the effects of simulated microgravity upon
  Brassica rapa and the growth characteristics of
  BIONA, a Russian made substrate.

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MAIN STORY

• Educational outreach is a very important aspect
  of NASA. One such endeavor by the Space Biology
  Outreach Program (SBOP) is the formation of an
  interactive plant outreach database (IPOD). IPOD
  would pull the experimental data and results from
  Biomass Production Chamber (BPC) experiments and
  other experiments grown in environmental growth
  chambers (EGCs). To demonstrate this integration,
  two students from NASAs Spaceflight and Life
  Sciences Training Program conducted a 5 week
  experiment using clinostats. The experiment
  tested the difference between two versions of
  BIONA and Brassica rapa growth in clinostats. The
  clinostats were divided into 4 groups (3 bottles
  in each) static control, static experimental,
  vertical experimental and horizontal experimental
  (Fig. 1). A square of BIONA was added to each
  bottle as well as three Brassica rapa seeds. The
  plants were grown to maturity and harvested.
  Measurements of plant height, leaf and flower
  count, and mass were taken for each bottle. The
  measurements were examined for existing trends
  and characteristics (Fig.2). The information from
  this experiment was integrated into the database
  and made accessible to teachers, students and
  researchers. SBOP is also providing the same
  materials to teachers. Teachers will be able to
  perform similar experiments in their classrooms,
  and students will be able to add their data to
  IPOD and compare it with existing data.
• This research was conducted as part of the 2004
  Spaceflight and Life Sciences Training Program
  funded by the National Aeronautics and Space
  Administration. The authors recognize the support
  of the Dynamac Corporation, the NASA Spaceflight
  and Life Sciences Training Program Academic
  Partner Alliance and the United States Department
  of Agriculture.

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Horizontal experimental treatment 90 to gravity
Static control treatment
Static experimental treatment
Vertical experimental treatment
Figure 1. Experimental setup with clinostat and
static groups
Figure 2. Comparison of the water loss between
Static BIONA V3 and Static control BIONA V4