TROPI, or "Analysis of a Novel Sensory Mechanism in Root Phototropism", is an experiment on the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

(ISS) to investigate the growth and development of plant seedlings under various gravity and lighting combinations. It was launched on

Space Shuttle Endeavour Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-105) is a retired orbiter from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the fifth and final operational Shuttle built. It embarked on its first mission, STS-49, in May 1992 and its 25th and ...

during the STS-130 mission and was performed on the ISS during

Expedition 22 Expedition 22 was the 22nd long duration crew flight to the International Space Station (ISS). This expedition began on December 1, 2009 when the Expedition 21 crew departed. For a period of 3 weeks, there were only 2 crew members; it was the fi ...

. Frozen plant samples from the TROPI experiment were returned on the landing of the STS-131 mission on

Space Shuttle Discovery Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to Se ...

Arabidopsis thaliana ''Arabidopsis thaliana'', the thale cress, mouse-ear cress or arabidopsis, is a small flowering plant native to Eurasia and Africa. ''A. thaliana'' is considered a weed; it is found along the shoulders of roads and in disturbed land. A winter a ...

seeds, (thale cress, the

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ge ...

of which has been DNA sequenced as a reference organism for the study of plant biology and genetics), were germinated and grown under various lighting and gravity conditions, using

centrifugal Centrifugal (a key concept in rotating systems) may refer to: *Centrifugal casting (industrial), Centrifugal casting (silversmithing), and Spin casting (centrifugal rubber mold casting), forms of centrifigual casting *Centrifugal clutch *Centrifug ...

gravity-simulation and

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...

s of various wavelengths (colors) and intensities to model lighting conditions. The specific aim of this project was to investigate

phototropism Phototropism is the growth of an organism in response to a light stimulus. Phototropism is most often observed in plants, but can also occur in other organisms such as fungi. The cells on the plant that are farthest from the light contain a hor ...

in plants grown in

microgravity The term micro-g environment (also μg, often referred to by the term microgravity) is more or less synonymous with the terms ''weightlessness'' and ''zero-g'', but emphasising that g-forces are never exactly zero—just very small (on the I ...

conditions without the complications of a 1-g environment. Experiments performed were used to explore the mechanisms of both blue-light- and red-light-induced phototropism in plants. John Z. Kiss of

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

(Oxford OH) is Principal Investigator, Richard E. Edelmann of Miami University and Melanie J. Correll of the University of Florida are co-investigators; Kenny Vassigh of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

is the project manager and Marianne Steele of NASA is the project scientist. The payload was developed by the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. The experiment was performed in the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) built by the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

(ESA). The Norwegian User Support Operation Centre (N-USOC), located in

Trondheim, Norway Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, controlled the EMCS during the TROPI experiments on the ISS. In the long term, the results from TROPI will help in the development of future space,

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

, and

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

life-support systems, in which plants are used to help remove

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

and generate

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

via photosynthesis for maintenance of atmospheric and other conditions, reducing the need for very expensive re-supply from Earth.

References

{{Reflist International Space Station experiments Botany Genetics experiments

See also

References