For the first time, a NASA-funded researcher will carry out his experiment on a commercial suborbital rocket. The technology is one of two NASA-supported experiments, also called payloads, funded by the agency’s Flight Opportunities program that will launch for a flight test aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket system no earlier than Thursday, Aug. 29.
The payload, manned by researchers from the University of Florida in Gainesville, is designed to understand how gravity changes affect plant biology during spaceflight. Researcher Rob Ferl will activate small, self-contained tubes prefilled with plants and preservatives to biochemically freeze the samples at different stages of gravity. During the flight, co-principal investigator Anna-Lisa Paul will conduct four identical experiments as controls. After the flight, Ferl and Paul will examine the preserved plants to study the effects of gravity changes on the plants’ gene expression. Studying the effects of gravity changes on plant growth will support future missions to the Moon and Mars.
The university’s flight test was funded by a grant awarded through the Flight Opportunities program’s TechFlights call, with additional support from NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division. This experiment builds on NASA’s longstanding support of plant research and aims to accelerate the pace and productivity of space-based research.
The other payload supported by Flight Opportunities is from HeetShield, a small company based in Flagstaff, Arizona. Two new thermal protection system materials will be attached to the outside of New Shepard’s propulsion module to test their thermal performance in a relevant environment, as the conditions will be similar to those encountered during planetary entry. After the flight, HeetShield will analyze the structure of the materials to determine how they were affected by the flight.
Flight Opportunities, part of NASA’s Space Technology Division, facilitates the demonstration of technologies for space exploration and the expansion of space commerce through suborbital testing with industry flight providers. Through various mechanisms, the program funds flight testing for internal and external technology payloads.
For more information, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/space-technology-mission-directorate/
