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Portable Astroculture Chamber (PASC)
10.29.09
Scientists and payload developers can get more information on International Space Station research facilities by contacting the ISS Payloads Office or at 281-244-6187.

Overview | Description | Applications | Operations | Results | Publications | Images

Facility/Payload Overview

Brief Facility Summary

Portable Astroculture Chamber (PASC) is a derivative of the Astroculture series of space flight hardware designed to meet the requirements of flying to the International Space Station (ISS). Understanding the effects of gravity on plant life is essential in preparation for interplanetary exploration. Being able to produce high energy, low mass food sources during space flight will enable maintenance of crew health during long duration missions while having a reduced impact on resources necessary for long distance travel. Applications of a plant growth chamber include using plants as components of regenerative life support systems for travel to the moon or Mars.

Facility Manager(s)

  • Weijia Zhou, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

    • Co-Facility Manager(s)

    Information Pending

    Facility Developer

    Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics, Madison, WI

    Sponsoring Agency

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

    Expeditions Assigned

    Information Pending

    Previous ISS Missions

    ADVASC the precursor to PASC flew on ISS Expeditions 2, 4 and 5.

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    Facility/Payload Description

    Facility Summary

    • The International Space Station (ISS) provided an ideal laboratory for growing plants and studying the influence of gravity on plants that evolved on Earth.


    • PASC is portable, small and light and consumes minimal power. PASC consists of two identical growth chambers with the objective of growing plants (approximate growth cycle is 75 days).

    Description

    PASC is the newest and smallest development in the Astroculture? line of payloads designed to operate on the International Space Station (ISS). The objective of these Astroculture? payloads is to determine requirements for successful growth of agricultural crops in microgravity. PASC features energy-conserving red and blue Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), which give a suitable light spectrum for plants within its growth chamber. This same efficient design has been used effectively on previous Astroculture? payloads. The PASC payload will also limit the ISS crew interaction by requiring only water and nutrient addition to the trays where roots are growing. The ambient air within the ISS's cabin will be used to control the temperature and humidity inside the growth chamber, further reducing power usage. The chamber has four transparent sides to allow easy viewing for photography to document the growth of plants within each chamber.

    The objectives of the PASC investigation are: to determine whether plants are able to complete their life cycle (namely, from seed to seed) in a microgravity environment and to determine what the minimum requirements of a plant growth chamber are. Successful experimentation will provide valuable information concerning vegetable crop production in space. When the plants grown in the PASC are mature, the seeds will be harvested and brought back to earth for analysis.

    Each PASC has a growing space which accommodates a shoot area of 252 cm2, shoot height of 17.8 cm, root area of 110.7 cm2 and root height of 3.3 cm. Water and nutrient delivery will occur by capillary mass transfer through rooting matrix via porous materials. The EXPRESS Rack system will allow for real-time data telemetry, remote commanding, and video (NTSC format) downlink.

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    Operations

    Facility Operations

    The crew will activate and deactivate PASC, as well as performing several maintenance activities as needed. Each chamber transmits health & status data and video to the ground and extracted seeds are returned to Earth.

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    Results/More Information

    Information Pending

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    Availability

    Information Pending

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    Related Web Sites
  • WCSAR-PASC

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    Publications

    Results Publications

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      Related Publications
      • Duffie NA, Oberstar E, Kornfeld M, Ptacek W, Zhou W. Design of a Crop Harvesting End Effector for the Robotic System used in the NASA JSC Biomass Production Chamber. SAE Technical Paper Series. ;Paper # 03ICES-414. 2003
      • Zhou W, Zeltner W, Meyers RA. Advanced Photocatalytic Ethylene Degradation Technology to Support Plant Research in the Enclosed Environment. SAE Technical Paper Series. ;Paper # 03ICES-415. 2003
      • Zhou W, Turner M. Development of the Commercial Plant Biotechnology Facility for the International Space Station. Proceedings of International Conference on Environmental Control, Toulouse, France. Jul 8 - 12, . 2000
      • Zhou W, Durst SJ, DeMars M, Stankovic B, Link BM, Tellez G, Meyers RA, Sandstrom PW, Abba JR. Performance of the Advanced ASTROCULTURETM plant growth unit during ISS-6A/7A mission. SAE Technical Paper Series. ;Paper # 02ICES-267. 2002
      • Link BM, Durst SJ, Zhou W, Stankovic B. Seed-to-seed growth of Arabidopsis Thaliana on the International Space Station. Advances in Space Research. ;31(10):2237-2243. 2003
      • Zhou W, Duffie N. Performance of the ASTROCULTUREPlant Growth Chamber (ASC-8) during the STS-95 Mission. Proceedings of International Conference on Environmental Control, Toulouse, France. Jul 8 - 12, . 2000
      • Link BM, Cosgrove DJ. Analysis of peg formation in cucumber seedlings grown on clinostats and in a microgravity (space) environment. Journal Of Plant Research. ;112(1108):507-516. 1999
      • Mookherjee B, Patel S, Zhou W. Novel Rose Essential Oil Developed in Space. Perfumer & Flavorist, Allured. . 2001
      • Zhou W, Corbin T. Advanced ASTROCULTURETM Plant Growth Unit: Capabilities and Performances. 35th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Rome, Italy. Jul 11 - 14, . 2005
      • Stankovic B, Antonsen F, Johnsson A, Volkmann D, Sack FD. Autonomic straightening of gravitropically curved cress roots in microgravity. Advances in Space Research. ;27(5):915-919. 2001
      • Link BM, Wagner E., Cosgrove DJ. The effect of a microgravity (space) environment on the expression of expansins from the peg and root tissues of Cucumis sativus. Physiologia Plantarum. ;113(2):293-300. 2001
      • Negele T, Duffie NA, Zhou W. Design of a Reconfigurable End Effector to be Integrated into the Robotic System used in the NASA JSC Biomass Production Chamber. SAE Technical Paper Series. ;Paper # 02ICES-269. 2002
      • Sene JJ, Zeltner WA, Anderson MA, Zhou W. A Sensor for Monitoring the Volume of Nutrient in a Solid Substrate Based Growth Media by Using Electrochemical Admittance Spectroscopy. Sensors & Actuators: B, Chemical. ;87:268-273. 2002
      • Stankovic B A plant space odyssey. Trends in Plant Science. ;6(12):591-593. 2001

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      Images

      imagePASC hardware unwrapped. Image provided by Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WSCAR).
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      Information Provided and Updated by the ISS Program Scientist's Office
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