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Design of Spaceflight Hardware for Plant Growth in a Sealed Habitat for Experiments on the Moon

Robert N. Bowman

Robert N. Bowman

NASA Ames Research CenterMoffett Field,
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Bowman, Robert N.
, 
Christopher P. McKay

Christopher P. McKay

NASA Ames Research CenterMoffett Field,
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McKay, Christopher P.
 and 
John Z. Kiss

John Z. Kiss

Dept. of Biology, University of North Carolina GreensboroGreensboro,
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Kiss, John Z.
  
Dec 25, 2022
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Published Online: Dec 25, 2022
Page range: 37 - 44
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/gsr-2022-0005
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© 2022 Robert N. Bowman et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Figure 1

Schematic diagram of the minimal Lunar Plant Experiment (LPX). Nominally the volume is 1 liter in the shape of a cube 10 cm on a side—the standard 1U Cubesat form. LED lights, camera, CO2 sensor, water delivery system, and the plant growth platform are shown.
Schematic diagram of the minimal Lunar Plant Experiment (LPX). Nominally the volume is 1 liter in the shape of a cube 10 cm on a side—the standard 1U Cubesat form. LED lights, camera, CO2 sensor, water delivery system, and the plant growth platform are shown.

Figure 2

(Top) Hydra 1 ISS experiment with simple plant habitat. Water bag and seed cassette are not pictured. (Bottom) Hydra 1 floating in ISS just before being placed in a bag and sealed for return to Earth. The brown habitat is 10-cm cube. Modified from Kitto et al. (2021).
(Top) Hydra 1 ISS experiment with simple plant habitat. Water bag and seed cassette are not pictured. (Bottom) Hydra 1 floating in ISS just before being placed in a bag and sealed for return to Earth. The brown habitat is 10-cm cube. Modified from Kitto et al. (2021).

Figure 3

Diagram of the seeds as placed in the Delrin furrows. Photograph of a partially assembled system showing one row. Seeds are attached along the top edge of the middle blotter using 1% (w/v) gum guar. The inverted polypropylene comb provides a space where roots can grow downward from the germinated seed. Additional blotters ensure that water or nutrient solution is wicked up into the root module surrounding the seed. The Delrin block is 10 cm on a side; the red dot is 1 cm.
Diagram of the seeds as placed in the Delrin furrows. Photograph of a partially assembled system showing one row. Seeds are attached along the top edge of the middle blotter using 1% (w/v) gum guar. The inverted polypropylene comb provides a space where roots can grow downward from the germinated seed. Additional blotters ensure that water or nutrient solution is wicked up into the root module surrounding the seed. The Delrin block is 10 cm on a side; the red dot is 1 cm.

Figure 4

CO2 dynamics of 129 wild-type seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana growing in a sealed plant microhabitat for 8 days. Grown at 26°C, 1200 ml total volume, with LED lighting.
CO2 dynamics of 129 wild-type seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana growing in a sealed plant microhabitat for 8 days. Grown at 26°C, 1200 ml total volume, with LED lighting.

Figure 5

Arabidopsis Columbia wild-type seedlings growing in a sealed laboratory analog at 5 Earth-days post hydration. Arabidopsis seed lots used in this study possessed high rates of germination, as shown. The standard-sized module can support growth of 131 seedlings. The red dot in the center is a size calibration standard. Note that some positions near the red dot are left unseeded to avoid later overlap of the calibration dot by enlarging seedlings. Red dot is 1 cm in diameter.
Arabidopsis Columbia wild-type seedlings growing in a sealed laboratory analog at 5 Earth-days post hydration. Arabidopsis seed lots used in this study possessed high rates of germination, as shown. The standard-sized module can support growth of 131 seedlings. The red dot in the center is a size calibration standard. Note that some positions near the red dot are left unseeded to avoid later overlap of the calibration dot by enlarging seedlings. Red dot is 1 cm in diameter.

Figure 6

Seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana after 11 Earth-days post hydration. Red dot is 1 cm in diameter.
Seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana after 11 Earth-days post hydration. Red dot is 1 cm in diameter.

Figure 7

Mean growth of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings measured as total photosynthetic area of cotyledons per seedling. N=10 seedlings.
Mean growth of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings measured as total photosynthetic area of cotyledons per seedling. N=10 seedlings.

Figure 8

Growth of a mixed population of Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica nigra after 11 days. The Brassica are the larger plants in the top two and bottom two rows. Red dot is 1 cm in diameter.
Growth of a mixed population of Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica nigra after 11 days. The Brassica are the larger plants in the top two and bottom two rows. Red dot is 1 cm in diameter.
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Life Sciences, Life Sciences, other, Materials Sciences, Materials Sciences, other, Physics, Physics, other
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