PART 1: The Great Plant Debate: sign up for debate-sm
PART 2: Upcoming WebChat with John James
PART 3: What's up in space
PART 4: Growing wheat plants with the Russians
PART 5: My philosophy, love of science and astronaut father
PART 6: Building a better mouse device and minority affairs

The Great Plant Debate is moving into a new stage: it is time for students to begin discussing the pros and cons of various student designs. At the end of last week, we had already received and put online wonderful designs from several classrooms, including: From Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA Jill W. Saia's 5th grade class. From St. Petersburg, Russia Students from the International School of General Education 6th grade: Anna Kogan; 9th grade: Olga Muranova 7th grade: Alexey Yavits, Michael Vorontsov, Roma Kilishek From Palm Bay, Florida, USA Mrs. Elaine S. Heine's Third Grade GSP Class, Lockmar Elementary, From Matthews, North Carolina, USA Mrs. McDonald's sixth grade life science class at Covenant Day School We are still hoping for many more designs. For instructions on submitting your student work, see updates-sm message SMORE #5, or visit this web address: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/smore/events/posting.html The next step will be to begin debating the relative merits of various designs, and we will be starting that discussion in just a few days. Your students are invited to participate even if they haven't yet sent in designs, and even if they don't plan to. This student discussion will happen through a mail list called debate-sm. There are various ways to participate in this action. You may receive the messages direct to your email box, either in a standard or digested form. The standard mechanism will deliver each contribution as a new mail message. If you already get too much email coming in, then you may opt for the digest option. This collates all of the contributions in the past 24-hours, which is then forwarded as one email per day to you. To join these lists, send an email message to listmanager@quest.arc.nasa.gov Write one of the following lines in the message body: subscribe debate-sm subscribe debate-digest-sm In addition, you can also access this dialogue via the Web. For this option, see this Web homepage: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/smore/debate-sm-lwgate.html If you're new to S/MORE, and don't know what we are talking about, take a look online at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/smore/events/datashare.html. If your students haven't created their own designs, they are still welcome to participate in the discussion and debate. Please consider joining in.

WHAT'S UP IN SPACE

NASA 3/Mir 22 Status Report-8, 9 Mission Control Korolev November 9, 1996 U.S. astronaut John Blaha, completing seven weeks aboard Russia's Mir space station, had an interactive video conference October 31 with members of the STS-81 space shuttle crew who were visiting the Russian mission control center in Korolev. STS-81 is the flight that will bring up astronaut Jerry Linenger to replace Blaha in January. The two-way video conference also was an opportunity for a brief "Halloween party" as ground support personnel donned makeshift costumes, bringing reminders of life at home to Blaha, who was launched to the Mir aboard Atlantis on September 19. The Russians celebrated the anniversary of the 1917 Socialist Revolution on November 7 and 8. Russian crew activities were reduced appropriately. However, work continued aboard Mir with no impact to U. S. science experiments. Scientific investigations on the Mir continued this week with the Passive Accelerometer System (PAS), a small metal ball inside a tube which attempts to measure minute residual gravity at space station altitudes. Data collection with this experiment will continue in the coming week. Onboard Mir, crew members spent time placing various structural measurement devices around the station, including accelerometers and strain gauges, and running connecting cables to hook them to a central monitoring device. This work is part of the Mir Structural Dynamics Experiment (MiSDE) which studies the structural dynamics of the Mir station. Understanding large, complex space structures will contribute to successful operation of the International Space Station, due for its first element launch in a little over one year. Estimated time for completion of cable routing (6 hours), sensor connection (2 hours) and checkout (1.5 hours) was submitted for timelining. * * * * * * * * * * * * Recent Life Science activities (for more information about these activities, see the background section of the S/MORE web: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/smore/background)

NASA Mir Science Program Dates: October 31 - November 6 1996 October 31, Blaha ran a malfunction procedure on the Biotechnology Systems (BTS) cartilage growth experiment. BTS studies cell attachment patterns and interactions in microgravity. The experiment developed a problem with an air bubble in the liquid growth medium and difficulty with the computer-controlled pump. Blaha replaced the growth medium and reset the computer. The system appeared to be operating properly at week's end. This experiment has so far shown increased metabolic activity in the cells, indicating a higher growth rate in space than in the control samples on the ground. On Monday, Nov. 4, after several days of nominal operations, the Biotechnology System (BTS) Cartilage growth (CART) experiment experienced a repeat of the same malfunction as occurred the previous week. The BTS system remained in "compliance fill" for over 4 hours, and the media storage low light was illuminated. John Blaha executed the "halt compliance fill" command as before. After that step, storage volume was zero and waste volume was 180.1. Transcripts of the NASA 3 crewmember report and his answers to CART questions have been sent to Payload Operation Support Area (POSA) and the Principal Investigator (PI) team. The experiment is in a safe mode pending revised procedures from the PI team. In addition, a CART sample was removed, processed and stored on Tuesday, Nov. 5. In Space Biology work around the Greenhouse, John Blaha reported that the leaves of the wheat plants are yellow, but that the grain is still green. Final harvest remains timelined for Nov. 15, but the actual date of harvest will be determined by US and Russian PI's after they review the Oct. 30 Greenhouse video downlink.

October 1, 1996
The Russians were growing wheat plants on the Mir space station and wanted
to see what kinds of microbes were in the plants' systems. They had
microbial ecologists there, but they didn't have some of the technology
that we did. So, some of the Russian scientists came to Kennedy Space
Center (KSC) and we collaborated with them, looking at how the plants had
grown while they were on Mir and how the microbiology of the system there
compared with controlled samples that they had. So we just did an
all-inclusive sampling, investigating what kinds of organisms were
present, how many, and other similar things.

Working with the Mir project has been very exciting. We were trying to see
if there were any differences or similarities in the microbiology of
plants that were grown in space on Mir and the plants that were grown in
the control environment in Russia. We did counts of all the microbial
cells that would be there, and counts of cells that could be grown on
plates. Then we identified those organisms, just to see if the kinds of
organisms we saw were the same.

We found some interesting differences. The plants grown on Mir were pretty
stressed, although that may have just been the way they were grown. But
we're supposed to be sampling again in December, so we'll have a second
batch that has been grown on the station. We'll be able to see if the
results we got before are repeatable or not. With one sample, it's really
hard to tell, definitively, if there's any difference.




[Editor's note: Carolyn Blaha is a senior at Purdue University in
Lafayette, Indiana, where she studies biochemistry. Her father is
John Blaha, who is the NASA astronaut presently flying aboard
the Mir space station.]

MY PHILOSOPHY, LOVE OF SCIENCE, ASTRONAUT FATHER
Carolyn Blaha

October 10, 1996
Well, when I was asked to write a bit about myself for incorporation
into the system, I thought, "My god, these people don't know me that
well." I think that you'd need all the space available in a 1-gigabyte
hard drive and the processing power of a Pentium to include all that. You
see, I'm a Blaha. Carolyn Blaha to be exact. We're not exactly known for
our brevity. My father, the astronaut currently housed on Mir, also has
this disease. We think there must be a Blaha talking gene. So, I'll TRY to
be brief.

Who am I? I guess I could give the usual answers here and then
proceed to the more bizarre. I'm a biochemistry student at Purdue
University in Lafayette, Indiana, currently in my third senior year
preparing to graduate with not one job prospect on the horizon. (I'm
interviewing this week, so everybody wish me luck.) I'm 23 years old. I
have a house, a dog, and two roommates (Brett and Bill) who keep me on
my toes. I run an outrageous schedule at this university. I AM a student,
although you wouldn't think so considering the amount of time I spend
being a student. I am also a TA (teaching assistant, for those of you who
don't know this jargon) for an entry-level biology class. I work for both
the Dean of Students office (taking notes for students with disabilities)
and a campus business office. I am also currently actively going about a
job search. And in my spare time, I like to keep groceries in my cabinet
and so forth. Needless to say, I'm a bit busy in a general sense (and in
a specific sense as well).

I am a person that enjoys life to its fullest. I don't mind taking time
out of my schedule to smell the roses, as the cliche goes. I figure
that the work will be there whether I am or not. Of course, this may lend
to the fact that I'm still at this university five and a half years after
I got here. You see, I just can't take my hands off chances to go halfway
around the world and live like a vagabond (I backpacked around
New Zealand for a few months). So, such is life.

My major motivation in life is simply to move forward. People tell me
that scholarship holders at a major university should have bigger goals,
but what do they know? If I actually became stagnant in my beliefs or
my life in general, I should think there would be no worse fate.
Now, my strong belief in my ability to do so comes from my faith in
God found through the Catholic Church. There is no stronger force
than God to make sure everything is taken care of for me. So I just
don't worry. I stay happy.

My major plans after college are rather simple. Take a job, and
decide where I want to go after that. I've flirted with the idea of
starting up a biotechnology business, but I don't know yet. We'll see.
Well, enough about me, let's go on to something else.

I was asked: "Do you plan to pursue a career in the space program like
your father?" My involvement to date has been two-fold. One is through my
father. He's the major focal point. We moved to Houston when my father
joined the astronaut office in 1980 (I was 7 years old). I've watched the
Space Shuttle program go through the first Shuttle lift-off to the Mir
missions. It's quite an awesome sight to behold. I grew up right along
with the program. I probably know more than most people about every detail
of ascent, as my father was more than happy to answer in detail any
questions I had about the Orbiter. He's a brilliant man who has worked
very hard to understand that vehicle far and above where he needed to. My
father has never stopped at "need"; he's always gone on to "want." So,
through four Shuttle Missions (STS-29, STS-33, STS-43, and STS-58), two of
which he commanded, and now this Mir mission, I have seen my father's true
character come out. He is infinitely kind and considerate. He demands
people's time, but he'll give it back ten-fold. He's never too busy to
sit down with a colleague and help them out. He's never too busy to let
you know how much you mean to him or how much you help him out (inside
and outside the Space Program). In fact, there are so many things I could
say about my father that I'm not going to list anymore. Okay, maybe one:
he's very modest about his accomplishments. If you ever met him on the
street, you'd never know what he does. He certainly wouldn't tell you.

My other involvement in the Space Program has been through
internships. I've worked for KRUG Life Sciences, IBM, and Martin Marietta
(now Lockheed-Martin). I've had a fun time being just a small part in a
very large organization. It's an eye-opener. The Space Program now has
my respect on a professional level. I truly understand the complexity of
the Program, how many man-hours it takes to accomplish these missions, and
how much this Space Program is in its mere infancy. Every time I see a
Shuttle lift off, I think it's a miracle. That all these people I work
with (and many I've never heard of) have made this possible fills me with
a great sense of accomplishment for them. This is indeed a tough challenge
they have undertaken, and I know they will meet it with open arms.

I would consider it a great loss if we ever stopped the initiative to push
forward and the momentum that is carrying the Space Program to new
technologies and new prospects every time there is a mission. Well, if
truth be known, I would like to see the day that a person can land on
another planet. If we can put forth the effort (an effort I believe must
be undertaken with the people all over this planet), we will succeed. And
if we can pull together to succeed at such a feat, I know that we can
accomplish anything (and that includes taking care of ourselves and the
wonderful world we've been given).

I LOVE science. I can't get enough of it. I don't think there is anything
I would rather be involved in. I did a summer research project once. When
the results finally came in, I was the first in the WORLD to know this
piece of information. What a wonderful feeling that was! It was now MY job
to tell everybody else. I was always drawn to the life sciences. To think
that I can study the wonders of life, its complexities, and all it has to
offer.  There are infinite choices in this line of work. I could go
anywhere with my biochemistry/molecular biology. Biology as a whole is a
science just at its infancy, and it is expanding dramatically. What an
exciting time to be alive and in the midst of so much discovery! I
couldn't be anywhere else. Science is not for everybody, but if it piques
your imagination, you ought to run with it. It will never disappoint you
to run after your dreams. It's a rich field with high rewards on a level
that no amount of money could ever give you. Go for it.




[Editor's note: Errol Hayward is a project engineer who plans and
coordinates various space projects. A big part of his job is to get
engineering teams together to work on these specific projects. Like most
engineers at NASA, these engineers don't work on only one project at a
time. This means that other projects also have deadlines. Errol works to
keep people focused on his project milestones and motivated to meet these
deadlines.]

BUILDING A BETTER MOUSE DEVICE AND MINORITY AFFAIRS
Errol Hayward - http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/smore/team/ehayward.html

July 30, 1996, I was away from NASA for a year and a half and once I
returned I was given a project that had been around for awhile but that
no one had successfully completed. The goal was to create a filtration
system to contain odor and waste products produced by mice. That may sound
easy, but it's not. 

Now it was my turn to take on this project. After a slow start, the team
really started making some progress. We created a filter that worked,
which could contain mouse waste products and odor in a 1-g environment for
20 days. I could go into graphic detail, but I don't want to bore you.

The sad part about it is that funding for the project ran out when we were
in the middle of preparing for a test to build upon our earlier success. I
got called out of my lab and was told that I had to stop work immediately,
tell everyone working for me to pack up and move on to other projects and
that money was no longer available for our particular project.

Now there is another twist to the story. In the summer, we found out that
money is again available. So the study resumed in October 1996.

I want to shift and share my experiences and views about minority affairs.
The reality of the situation is that I have been one of a very few or the
sole representative of a particular minority group for as long as I can
remember. I grew up in Clearwater, Florida, attended integrated schools,
and for some strange reason, I was usually the only minority person in my
classes. So the only time that I was with other minorities was at home, in
the neighborhood and when I played sports. But not in class.

When I look back at my entire educational history, I think it was very
strange that I was the only minority in most of my classes, from third
grade through my senior year in high school. So at the time, I considered
this to be the norm. I began to have more and more minorities in my class
when I entered college, and at first, that felt really strange. But I got
used to it quickly as we started to relate and communicate.

I think NASA is gaining some ground. I see a lot of minority college
students working for NASA. They are getting valuable experience and
training, but the problem is that most college students are not being
offered jobs at this point in time, due to the civil servant hiring
freeze. But again, the training and experience is valuable and important.
I see minority representation in other parts of NASA. Whether it is a
large amount or small amount, I don't know. But NASA is putting qualified
people of different races, sexes and ethnicities in supervisory positions.
I think it's a priority for NASA to provide equal opportunity for all
people.

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