Germination and Growth of Selected Higher Plants in a Simulated Space Cabin Environment

Abstract

Four species of higher plants including Raphanus sativus, Lactuca sativa, Brassica oleracea, and Capsicum frutescens were exposed to an environment simulating the conditions within the NASA Skylab. Seventy-two hundred seeds and four hundred eighty mature seedlings were placed in altitude chambers for a ten-day period. One chamber was held at 260 mm Hg total pressure (27,000 ft) and a duplicate chamber was held at 725 mm Hg total pressure and served as a control. Both chambers had equal partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide. No significant differences in seed germination or seedling development were apparent between the control and reduced pressure treatments. All species obtained a high germination percentage during the ten-day exposure to the simulated space cabin environment.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1971
Accession Number
AD0727043

Entities

People

  • Christopher T. Lind

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerospace Medicine
  • Air Force
  • Barometric Pressure
  • Biomedical Research
  • Carbon Dioxide
  • Classification
  • Contracts
  • Environment
  • Government Procurement
  • Manned Spacecraft
  • Organic Compounds
  • Partial Pressure
  • Plants
  • Security
  • Space Systems
  • Spacecraft
  • Vegetables

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Aquatic Ecology
  • Marine Mammal Biology
  • Mathematics or Statistics

Technology Areas

  • Space