Never before was a man so happy to see potatoes.

"It was a feeling of elation," recalled Raymond J. Bula of learning that five Norland variety potato leaves, which spent Oct. 20 through Nov. 5 circling Earth aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, had indeed sprouted tubers in the microgravity environment of space. "This was the first food ever grown in orbit," he explained. "It was the culmination of a lot of effort." (32K JPG)

Bula, director of the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics, was the principal investigator for this high-profile test which attracted media attention from around the world. He worked closely with a team led by UW-Madison horticulture professor Theodore Tibbitts. The experiment's success opens the door for larger horticulture projects to be conducted on the International Space Station, set for construction later this decade.

The potato plants' growth chamber, labeled Astroculture^TM, had been fine tuned on four previous shuttle flights. It has two small plant-holding compartments, each about the size of a half-gallon carton of milk. Surrounding the compartments are a myriad of environmental controls, including light-emitting diodes developed in conjunction with Quantum Devices, Inc., of Barneveld, Wis. The LEDs provide the light used in photosynthesis. Another unique feature of Astroculture^TM is its watering system, which delivers water and nutrients to plants by negative pressure through porous, stainless steel tubes.

The benefits of having plants in space go well beyond providing a food source, said Bula. "Plants provide a naturally recycling life support system in space. They help remove excess carbon dioxide; replenish oxygen; purify water through transpiration; and, last but not least, give a psychological lift to astronauts in an otherwise mechanically sterile environment."

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Copyright 1995 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System Date last modified: Monday, 20-Nov-1995 00:00:00 CST Date created: 20-Nov-1995 Content By: perspective@engr.wisc.edu Thank you for visiting!