Committed to continuing their partnership, WCSAR and IFF are collaborating on another essential oil biosynthesis experiment. At press time, it was scheduled for launch on October 1 of this year and headed for the International Space Station (ISS), an international project now under construction to create an inhabitable, space-based scientific laboratory of unprecedented scale. When completed, the station will measure about 356 feet across and 290 feet long, including nearly an acre of solar panels to power the station and its six labs.
The latest WCSAR project, like its predecessors, will study and evaluate the formation of volatile compounds produced by different aromatic plants in a weightless environment. But, unlike the others, this experiment will study the plants' entire life cycle, from seed to flower. During a four-month period in space, the flower seeds will undergo germination, vegetation, pollination, blossom, and reproduction. As they bloom, essential oils from two flowering plants — the purple, yellow, and white viola and the white ruffled stock flower — will be collected, stored on the ISS, and then brought back to earth for genetic trait analysis. (See sidebar.)
Whether ISS crew members will be able enjoy these colorful and delicate flowers will depend on NASA. After the Columbia tragedy, the agency grounded all shuttle missions as it re-evaluates the space research program.
"NASA is still reprioritizing itself, but the tone has been set," says Zhou, who travels regularly to Washington, D.C., to meet with administrators from the space agency.
To be selected for launch, Zhou explains that experiments must accomplish at least one of following: