Seeds launched into space benefit from a PNNL touch

EMSL will help analyze the effects of micro gravity on plants grown on space station

News Release

May 18, 2018

• Tom Rickey, PNNL, (509) 375-3732

RICHLAND, Wash. — In the wee hours this Monday, May 21, a rocket will thunder off from a NASA launch pad in Virginia, carrying a handful of seeds, part of a science experiment in which a scientist at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is playing a key role.

The destination is the International Space Station, soaring at more than 17,000 miles per hour as it orbits Earth 254 miles above our heads.

The precious payload is part of an experiment led by scientist Norman Lewis of Washington State University to understand how plants grow in space, a crucial issue affecting the availability of food and oxygen on future long-duration missions.

The seeds include unique types of the plant Arabidopsis developed by Lewis that are deficient in lignin — the fibrous substance that allows plants to grow upright. Scientists will study how the plants respond to the weightless conditions of the space station. For instance, will the plants still grow "up" even in a microgravity environment?

Scientists will plant the seeds next month and then use more than 180 sensors to take detailed measurements for several weeks before the plants are harvested and hitch a ride back to Earth on a subsequent mission.

Then a team led by Mary Lipton at EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE Office of Science user facility, will analyze thousands of the plants' proteins at EMSL to understand how the plants grow in space compared to counterparts being grown in identical conditions — except for the force of gravity — back at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Live viewing of the launch, tentatively scheduled for 1:39 a.m. Pacific Time Monday, will be available on NASA TV. Check that link for updated launch information. More information is available in the WSU news release.

Editor’s note: The launch went as planned early Monday, May 21:

Tags: Fundamental Science, EMSL, Mass Spectrometry and Separations, Proteomics

EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, is a DOE Office of Science user facility. Located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., EMSL offers an open, collaborative environment for scientific discovery to researchers around the world. Its integrated computational and experimental resources enable researchers to realize important scientific insights and create new technologies. Follow EMSL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory draws on signature capabilities in chemistry, earth sciences, and data analytics to advance scientific discovery and create solutions to the nation's toughest challenges in energy resiliency and national security. Founded in 1965, PNNL is operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit PNNL's News Center. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.