September 2004, Issue #32
Over the Top! The Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program
How do plants grow in space? How do roots take hold when there is no gravity? How does the soil stay together? If people were ever to live on Mars, how could they grow food to sustain life?
These questions and more were part of a project completed by engineering students at Smith College, the first all women college in the country to have an engineering program. The Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program (RGSFOP), sponsored by NASA Johnson Space Center, gives undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct research in their microgravity facilities. Colleges and Universities from across the country write proposals explaining their research in hopes of being accepted in the RGSFOP. There is considerable risk involved in this process, as there is a tremendous amount of time needed to create a proposal and only a limited number of teams are accepted into the program each year.
The Engineers Studying Capillary Action Pockets In Non-uniform Gravity (ESCAPING) team consisted of three sophomores and a junior from Smith, Sarah Breen, Pamela DeAmicis, Robin, Katz, and Erika Rodriguez, interested in mechanical and civil engineering and government. The team selected a research topic, obtained an advisor and wrote a 50-page proposal that explored the particular problems and possible solutions of growing plants by analyzing capillary action in space. The ESCAPING team used 35 micron and 1-millimeter glass beads to model soil as they attempted to understand why air bubbles form in microgravity and prevent water from reaching the root tips. On earth, when a plant is watered, gravity pushes the air pockets to the surface of the soil, which results in normal plant growth. However, due to the lack of gravity, abnormalities occur because no such force is present to move the air pockets to the surface.
Once their project was accepted, the real work began. Many hours were spent in the machine shop building their apparatus. Because this project is considered extracurricular in nature, they had to complete all the work on top of their full course load as engineering and government students.
After the construction of the apparatus, the team shipped it to Houston and awaited the student's arrival. Unfortunately, the prototype broke in transit and the women had to think on their feet to get it working again; it was truly engineering in its practicality. The young women then gave a 5-minute presentation to NASA scientists and engineers proving that neither the aircraft nor the personnel would be injured by the apparatus when in flight.
Training for microgravity simulation consisted of entering an altitude chamber that simulated 25,000 feet fully geared with TOP GUN equipment. It was here where the young women felt their first symptoms of hypoxia, a term used when the human brain is receiving lack of oxygen.
Finally, flight day, the day to fully test their apparatus arrived. Prior to flight, the students were given anti-nausea medication called SCOP-DEX, which is a combination of Scopolamine and Dexedrine. The flight consisted of 32 parabolas with 25 seconds of microgravity at each peak.
Overall, the Smith women were very successful despite some unexpected malfunctions in their apparatus. However, the Smith women stop at nothing and plan to fly their experiment next year in order to broaden their understanding of capillary action in microgravity environments.
For more information about Smith College and The Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program please visit the following websites:
http://www.smith.edu/news/2003-04/SWEAward.html
http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov
