Carry Us into the Unknown

by Emily Carlson

When the shuttle Columbia disintegrated above Texas skies in February, the future of the space program was threatened, along with that of a UW center dedicated to exploring science in this unfamiliar world.

As seven astronauts climbed aboard the shuttle Columbia in mid-January, preparing to launch a sixteen-day mission to conduct more than eighty experiments in space, they took along a part of Wisconsin.

Among the crew was mission specialist Laurel Blair Salton Clark, who had spent two years training for the flight. Clark had received two degrees from UW-Madison - bachelor's in zoology in 1983 and medical doctorate in 1987 — and she was grateful for the role her alma mater had played in her life. Aboard Columbia, she carried two medallions from the Medical School and a Wisconsin-made teddy bear sporting a College of Letters and Science logo.

Beyond the mementos was an even stronger tie to Wisconsin for Clark. During the mission, she took the lead on two scientific experiments — one that examined the effects of weightlessness on flower fragrance and another that investigated the feasibility of genetic transfer in space. Both projects were developed by the College of Engineering's Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR).

"At one point, Laurel hooked up the camera and said she called up 'to congratulate everyone at the University of Wisconsin,' " recalls Jessica Abba, the WCSAR payload training and operations engineer who trained the crew how to conduct the two experiments in space. "She said the plants looked great."

After just over two weeks in space, the shuttle crew members, along with dozens of scientific samples, headed home. The world knows what happened next. As they made their way closer to Earth, the shuttle began to melt. It broke apart upon re-entry. All was lost.

"It was a shock when the people I knew disintegrated, along with the experiments I had worked on. There is no definable feeling," says Abba, who, wearing a flight crew pin given to her by Clark, spoke at a memorial service for the astronaut hosted by the university.

"Our loss, compared to the families who lost their loved ones onboard Columbia, is insignificant," Weijia Zhou PhD'93, the principal investigator of the experiments and director of WCSAR, says today.

The full extent of what was lost that early Saturday morning above the skies of Texas remains unknown. Ripples from the wake of the Columbia disaster continue to reach NASA. The agency is addressing questions ranging from details about what caused the explosion, to the viability of manned space exploration, to whether we should invest in space research at all. Whatever the answers, they are certain to rock NASA-funded programs and centers, including WCSAR.

As one of NASA's fourteen Research Partnership Centers, the Wisconsin center partners with industry to develop ways to improve life on Earth, as well as support life in space. In general, the projects answer fundamental questions about the future of human life both here and beyond. Experiments, for example, evaluate the performance of WCSAR-developed technologies and examine the feasibility of cultivating plants in space. Some have explored the ability to insert protective genes into plants — a process that appears to be more efficient in space than on the ground.

"When it comes to the life science experiments in orbit, what we learn about how weightlessness affects human biology will be one of the biggest contributions," says Bratislav Stankovic, a WCSAR plant scientist. "Humans will explore space, and there is a pressing need to develop measures for long-term support of human life in this unwelcoming environment."

On Earth, gravity does more than ground us — it's a force that touches nearly every aspect of daily life, from bone density and blood pressure to the movement of water and heat. But, because it is omnipresent, no experiment on the ground can adequately achieve the conditions of microgravity, or weightlessness. For example, if researchers who study osteoporosis want to know how microgravity alters bone loss in an effort to prevent it, they must send their science into space. To do this, they rely on centers like WCSAR.

Since its inception in 1986, WCSAR has developed space flight hardware and — working with research institutes and companies, including some in Wisconsin - has designed and conducted many space experiments with the aid of NASA. The Columbia mission marked the eleventh flight that included experiments from the UW center.

"The reason NASA established [centers] inside academia is to fully take advantage of the capabilities and resources inside those institutions," says Zhou. He adds that WCSAR collaborates extensively with departments in the College of Engineering and the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

In the beginning, though, NASA questioned the effectiveness of the commercial collaboration. "NASA wasn't sure academics could do the commercialization, pitching projects to industry," admits Zhou. "But after the first five years, they were convinced that academics can be businesspeople, too."

Currently, WCSAR receives about $2.5 million from NASA and additional funding from industry partners and other federal agencies, but no money from the university or the state to support the research. By encouraging partnerships among universities and industry, NASA plans to move toward the commercialization of space.

"NASA believes that space-based research will lead to the development of novel technologies, processes, and products that can improve the quality of life on Earth," says Zhou. More than a decade of industry-driven research conducted by the research centers in space has led to the development of cutting-edge technologies and systems, as well as new commercial products, he adds.

Over the years, WCSAR's mission has evolved in response to the funding agency's interests. In the early 1990s, when NASA decided to devote resources to manned space exploration, it asked the Wisconsin center to de-emphasize its earlier focus on developing technology to automate space research. "NASA [had] encouraged us to put more emphasis on advanced life support research, using robotics and automation to accomplish that," explains Zhou.

When NASA changed course, so did WCSAR. Life science research in space — once receiving less than 30 percent of the center's annual budget - has now become the center's primary focus.

In 1995, as space shuttle Columbia lifted off for one of its missions, it flew a payload of tiny potato leaves from WCSAR. As the leaves sprouted red tubers, they represented the first time a potential food plant for astronauts was grown successfully in a NASA-controlled environment. The space spuds also provided valuable information: they were not significantly different in composition compared with ground spuds, suggesting that the potato could be a viable, nutritious crop for astronaut farmers.

But the plants' appeal didn't stop there. "Plants don't just produce food," points out Theodore Tibbitts, an emeritus professor of horticulture and lead investigator of the potato experiment. They recycle the carbon dioxide that humans release and convert it to oxygen. They can take up waste water, such as urine, and, during transpiration, release it into the air, where it can be turned into fresh water.

"Plants in a permanent station have tremendous value in recycling needed life support requirements," says Tibbitts, whose vanity license plate reads, "SPUDNIK."

Three years after the potato experiment, the center, along with its industry partner the International Flavors and Fragrance Company (IFF) in New York, launched flowers into space to determine if microgravity altered the plants' aromatic compounds. The results led to the creation of "Zen," a perfume developed by the cosmetic company Shiseido.

In 2000, WCSAR performed a second genetic transformation experiment using germinating soybean seeds. On the ground, the insertion of desirable genes for crops, such as corn, soybeans, sugar beets, or bananas, is extremely inefficient — success rates are about one in one thousand. Weightlessness appears to improve these rates dramatically. Understanding exactly why could provide a significant payoff, helping Earth-bound researchers to develop more efficient techniques for genetic engineering, and making crops more resistant to pests and extreme climates, as well as more nutritious.

As the families of the Columbia astronauts continue to grieve, WCSAR struggles with loss of a different kind. When Columbia broke apart, although some of the data from on-board experiments had already been transmitted to WCSAR, all samples for post-flight analysis were destroyed. The shuttle's disintegration, which cost the center an estimated $500,000, has jeopardized WCSAR's relationships with industry, threatened its funding from NASA, and impelled it once again to evaluate its research efforts.

"After Columbia, I went to IFF twice to discuss issues concerning future collaboration," says Zhou, who considers the fragrance company to be one of WCSAR's "most generous" commercial partners. "The first meeting wasn't so smooth," he recalls. "I then spent weeks talking to the vice president of research and development by phone. At the second meeting, there had been a dramatic change. IFF made the commitment that they would continue to pursue space-based research."

The main focus of the IFF research, according to Zhou, is to investigate how the microgravity environment alters the compositions of volatile compounds, or essential oils, produced by aromatic plants. It's the volatile compounds that leave a scent. The earlier experiment, conducted onboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1998, showed that a rose produced different volatile compounds in space, compared to on the ground. "IFF's plan is to identify unique and commercially interesting essential oils in space and then reconstitute the findings in terrestrial labs," Zhou explains.

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:

Assure astronaut safety, such as by limiting radiation exposure
Enhance hardware development for flight missions
Improve astronaut health, such as by enhancing bone density and blood circulation
Improve quality of life on Earth
Raise public awareness about NASA's program

Given the stiff competition among many projects for only a few opportunities, successful experiments must address multiple areas. "We need to realign ourselves with NASA to provide as many answers for a single experiment. We need to develop dual-purpose technologies not only essential to NASA's manned space exploration, but also beneficial to the development of quality-enhanced and value-added commercial products on Earth," Zhou says.

When developing commercial projects, he says, WCSAR takes NASA's criteria into account, as well as scientific merit and the financial contributions from industry partners.

Meanwhile, the debate over the future of the NASA space program continues. Discussions include developing new space vehicles, conducting more unmanned explorations, and reducing the number of crew stationed at the ISS. Final decisions will ultimately affect research opportunities. A NASA plan to reduce the ISS crew from three to two people, for example, would cut time available for science experiments from twenty-nine hours per week to just twelve hours.

"If you're betting a career on plant space science, it's not a rosy picture. But I think exciting times lie ahead," says plant biologist Stankovic, who calls himself a "skeptical optimist." He bases his optimism on continual improvements in science and the opportunity to conduct long-term experiments once the assembly of the ISS is complete.

A renewed desire to develop automated technology to support experiments without human involvement may emerge. If unmanned space missions become NASA's goal, the development of automated processes will require significant investment.

"Robots can't replace humans, at least not in the near future," Zhou says. "Cognition, dexterity, and decision-making processes are still not there." Whether we ever achieve a "Star Wars-version robot," he predicts, will depend upon how much NASA — guided by public opinion — is willing to invest.

As a relatively new field that has had limited opportunity to be tested, much about space science remains unknown.

"You can't be wise about things you've never undertaken before," says Tibbitts.

Many questions need to be answered — whether the ultimate goal is to create colonies for life in space, or to lead to more efficient technologies, more nutritious foods, and better pharmaceuticals here on Earth.

Amidst the uncertainty, one aspect is steadfast: space exploration captivates the human soul and spirit. "There's a certain excitement about doing things in space that piques the interest of young and old alike," says Tibbitts. For Zhou, missions into space spark national pride. "To me," says the WCSAR director, who is originally from Shanghai, China, "manned space exploration represents technology, capability, and certainly resources. It's a statue for the United States."

Exploration of space also nurtures the dreams of many girls and boys, not to mention adults. Laurel Clark didn't think about becoming an astronaut until later in her life. "I ... never thought about being an astronaut until I was in my thirties," she said before she flew her first mission. "I feel very fortunate every day that I've been chosen to do what I'm going to do. I think that sometimes life takes you in very unexpected ways."