Purpose:
magnitude.io/ is soliciting research proposals by students at the University of California-Berkeley to conduct post- flight science investigations for the ExoLab-9 astrobotany mission. Students may submit individually or as a team with up to four student participants, along with one advising professor.
Mission:
The ExoLab-9 It’s Experiments with Plants aboard the ISS and in Classrooms (EPIC) launche on August 29, 2021 on the SpaceX-23 Cargo Resupply Mission to the International Space Station.
Driving Question:
Can red clover plants achieve root nodulation with symbiotic rhizobia bacteria while under the stress of spaceflight in a microgravity environment? If nodulation is detected in space flight samples, what are the similarities and differences between the nodules from the flight vs. ground samples?
Science Goal:
The ExoLab-9 mission will build on the success of ExoLab-8 and continue to investigate how the stress of spaceflight affects the symbiotic relationship of red clover and nitrogen-fixing Rhizobia bacteria. With nitrogen as a limiting factor for growth, legumes like red clover can not only be eaten as a microgreen but also add essential nutrients back into the soil.
Contained with a 4U Space Tango CubeLab, fifteen red clover seeds distributed across three test tubes were inserted into biostrate felt and placed on media that was mixed with rhizobia bacteria. Images and data are transmitted back to Earth several times each week. Flight samples will be biologically fixed in Glutaraldehyde prior to powering down on the ISS around September 27 and return to Earth a few days later.
Mission participants will grow red clover plants in the 1G environment of Earth as part of the ground control experiment. Those results will be compared to the microgravity flight experiment samples. Root nodules on Earth on red clover are typically about one millimeter in size. Therefore, tissue samples are expected to be limited.
Experimental Methods:
As an inquiry-based science investigation, magnitude.io/ is accepting student research proposals to conduct post-flight science to confirm nodulation in flight and ground samples. Methods may include but are not limited to microscopy, staining, PCR, or other chemical or molecular methods. Given the use of Glutaraldehyde for biological fixation, electron microscopy is highly recommended. Based on the timing, ability, and availability of equipment, students should submit a one page proposal describing how they would conduct the post-flight science investigation on the flight and ground samples. The selected student or student team will receive an ExoLab and supplies to run their own ground trial experiment to compare samples to the flight experiment.
Solutions:
Over the next decade, when NASA, commercial, and international partners take humans beyond low Earth orbit, space farmers will be tasked with growing nutrient and vitamin-rich fresh foods to supplement astronauts’ diets. Arriving on Mars, they’ll be looking at a barren landscape and essentially dead dirt. Just as dead dirt won’t grow plants on Earth, the regolith on Mars will need some help. On Earth, nutrient runoff in waterways is leading to eutrophication and algal blooms that are causing devastating effects on aquatic ecosystems. Legume research will help develop more environmentally sustainable agricultural methods using biological solutions. This research will help us understand how to grow plants in space as well as ways to restore our soils on Earth.
Deliverables and Expectations:
The student(s) selected under this proposal will join the magnitude.io/ Research Team. During the mission, the student researcher(s) will:
-
- Participate in weekly magnitude.io/ research meetings
- Conduct post-flight science investigations based on an approved protocol by the magnitude.io/ Research Team
- Provide weekly verbal updates to the magnitude.io/ Research Team during the post-flight science period
- Provide all data, investigation documents, results, and written science reports to the research team by December 1, 2021.
- Present findings during at least one live meeting of K to 12 mission participants
- Participate in video and audio interviews regarding the project (media release required)
- If a white paper emerges from the research, the student(s) will continue working with the magnitude.io/ Research Team throughout the drafting and publication process
- Adhere to all required lab and safety protocols, and Information release of any kind pertaining to the ExoLab-9 experiment is subject to the prior approval of magnitude.io/