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A decade of plant biology in space by Staff Writers Paris (ESA) Jul 11, 2016
On this day 10 years ago, Space Shuttle Discovery was launched to the International Space Station carrying ESA's European Modular Cultivation System - a miniature greenhouse to probe how plants grow in weightlessness. From looking at how plants know where to grow roots to how light can influence growth, and how the tips of plant roots bend as they grow, it is a flagship research facility on the orbiting complex. Installed by ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter in 2006, it nurtures plants from seedlings to maturity, and allows both astronauts and research teams on the ground to intervene and change the conditions. Every aspect of the growing environment can be regulated - temperature, atmosphere, water and light - and two centrifuges simulate gravity up to twice Earth's level to compare how plants respond to different degrees of gravity.
Plants in a twirl
Understanding the roots of plant growth Similarly, Genera-A studied over 1400 proteins in Arabidopsis seedlings grown in microgravity and in Earth gravity, providing insights into the effect of gravity on the molecular processes regulating plant growth.
Red or blue light?
Knowledge for space and Earth We need to know how plants will grow on neighbouring planets. Will they still know which way to send their roots in reduced gravity or will they go haywire? EMCS is not only helping scientists to prepare for far-off colonisation but also improving our knowledge of growing crops at home. The more we know about plants the better we will be able to cultivate them - on Earth, the Moon or Mars. The facility was developed under ESA contract by the Life Science Payloads Group at Airbus DS in Friedrichshafen Germany, and is operated from Norway at the Norwegian User Support and Operations Center in Trondheim with the support of Airbus DS.
Related Links European Modular Cultivation System Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
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