Commercial Biotechnology Experiments
3. ASTROCULTURETM
The ASTROCULTURETM payload was sponsored by the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR), a NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS), located at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Commercial space ventures that involve human presence require safe and reliable life support at a reasonable cost. Plants play a vital role in the life support system we have here on earth. Likewise, we can expect that plants will be a critically important part of a space life support system because they can be a source of food while providing a means of purifying air and water for humans in space.
Currently, no satisfactory plant growing unit is available to support long-term plant growth in space. Several industry affiliates including Automated Agriculture Assoc., Inc., Dodgeville, WI; Biotronics Technologies, Inc., Waukesha, WI; Orbital Technologies Corp., Madison, WI; and Quantum Devices, Inc., Barneveld, WI, together with WCSAR have embarked on a cooperative program to develop the technologies needed for growing plants in a space environment.
The objective of the ASTROCULTURETM (ASC) series of flight experiments is to validate the performance of these technologies in the microgravity environment of space. Each of the flight experiments will involve the addition of another important subsystem required to provide the necessary environmental control for plant growth. The flight hardware is based on commercially available components, thereby significantly reducing the cost of the hardware.
The information from these flight experiments will become the basis for developing large scale plant growing units required in a life support system. In addition, these technologies will also have extensive uses on earth, such as improved dehumidification/humidification units, water efficient irrigation systems, and energy-efficient lighting systems for plant growth.
The flight hardware for this mission is self-contained in a SPACEHAB locker and weighs approximately 50 pounds. The ASC-3 flight unit includes the water and nutrient delivery unit, the LED-based plant lighting unit, the temperature and humidity control unit, and a microprocessor unit for control and data acquisition functions. These subsystems, or units, provide essentially all the environmental regulation needed for plant growth. Consequently, the next ASC flight experiment includes plants as a test of the effectiveness of the units to support plant growth.
The Principal Investigator on ASTROCULTURETM is Dr. Raymond J. Bula, WCSAR.
4. Biomodule
The Pennsylvania State Biomodule (PSB) payload tests the hypothesis that exposure to near zero gravity (microgravity) can alter microbial gene expression in commercially useful ways. The payload was developed by the Center for Cell Research (CCR), a NASA CCDS based at the Pennsylvania State University, and its commercial partner, Novo Nordisk Entotech, Inc., which is located in Davis, California, and is part of Denmark-based Novo Nordisk A/S, a global company with diverse business anchored primarily in biotechnology, serving the health care, industrial and agricultural sectors.
Novo Nordisk Entotech develops bioinsecticides, naturally occurring microbes that produce products that are toxic to certain insects, but are non-toxic to non-target pests, people and the environment. The company is interested in determining if exposure to microgravity can enhance microbial expression, altering the growth, toxin production and potency of these environmentally friendly pest-control agents.
In its STS-60 configuration, the Biomodule needed no hands-on attention from the astronauts. The device automatically provides dynamic temperature regulation, three levels of liquid containment and the ability to add two different fluids to each sample at different time intervals during the space flight.
CCR scientific affiliates Dr. Zane Smilowitz, Penn State professor of entomology, and Dr. William McCarthy, Penn State associate professor of entomology, are co-principal investigators. Penn State graduate student Bryan Severyn, an M.S. candidate in entomology, is assisting them. Dr. Chi-Li Liu, Manager of Microbiology, is Entotech's representative. Dr. William W. Wilfinger is CCR Director of Physiological Testing and principal investigator on the gel encapsulation project. Dr. W. C. Hymer is Director of the Center for Cell Research. Dr. Pamela Marrone is President of Novo Nordisk Entotech, Inc.
5. BioServe Pilot Laboratory
The BioServe Pilot Laboratory (BPL) is sponsored by BioServe Space Technologies, a NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) based at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
The BPL plays an important role in providing the commercial and scientific communities affordable access to space for material and life sciences research. The main focus of the project is to provide a "first step" opportunity to companies interested in exploring materials processing and life science experiments in space. The notion behind the project is to allow industry a mechanism for entry level "proof of concept" flights. Thus, the BPL is a crucial screening device for more complex, targeted space research and development activities.
On STS-60, the BPL consisted of 40 Bioprocessing Modules (BPMs) stowed in a standard locker in the SPACEHAB Space Research Laboratory. The BPMs contain the biological sample materials. The stowage locker also contains an Ambient Temperature Recorder (ATR) which provides a temperature history of the payload throughout the mission.
Dr. Marvin Luttges, Director of the BioServe CCDS, is Program Manager. Drs. Louis Stodieck and Michael Robinson, also of BioServe, are responsible for mission management.
