[ Linda/NASAQuest - 7 - 09:13:39 ]
RE: [bob] do you think pluto is a planet and do you know someone that studies pluto?please anwser back for a report.
That's a good question for kids-ask-nasa@quest.nasa.gov

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 10 - 09:41:46 ]
We are getting some good questions already. Did you know that there are some helpful links and information at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/projects/space/iss2001/jan/guides.html

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 12 - 09:54:42 ]
RE: [LizStryjewski/KSC] Hi Everyone! Liz Stryjewskii here, I'm ready for questions! Let's have some fun....
Hi Liz, and welcome! We have some great questions coming in already; I'll start to post them to the room.

[ LizStryjewski/KSC - 18 - 10:08:42 ]
RE: [Tim] So what do you do exalty
Great questions! Let's see... I'll start with Tim's... I get that one a lot. I am a "microscopist". Microscopists use all types of microscopes to look at the the smallest parts of the world. In our lab, we expose plants to all kinds of different environmnets and see how they react. My role in this is to take a piece of the plant tissue and look inside, at the tissue/cellular structure to see if our environmnets have effected the plant at the cellular level. So, I spend a lot of my time chemically processing the tissue, embedding it either in plastic or wax, sectioning (much like the cheese slicer at the deli department in a supermarket) and looking at my samples under a microscope.

[ LizStryjewski/KSC - 19 - 10:13:17 ]
RE: [PattiCamposJrHi] We couldn't make it to the webcast. Could you tell us what the RASTA project does and why it's important?
I'll go to Patty's question next. The main goal of the RASTA project is to look at radish growth in microgravity- Ryan asked why we use radishes- I'll answer that one after this. As you know, there are parts of a plant that you eat and parts that you don't eat. It's very important to know whether or not the plants you grow in space are going to be able to produce edible parts. For instance, if we send up radish seeds, we need to know that they are actually going to produce a radish and not just a bunch of leaves. More techically speaking, we need to know how that plant partitions carbon and that's the point of RASTA, to investigat carbon partitioning in microsgrvity.

[ LizStryjewski/KSC - 22 - 10:18:24 ]
RE: [Ryan] Why radish plants? Would another plant work? Is there something special about radishes or would watermelon work as well?
Ryan asked why we use radish plants. NASA would like to be able to grow salad-type crops on ISS because they take very little processing, you can just "pick and eat" many of these crops (as opposed to something like wheat), so we are growing carrots, onions, etc. We chose radishes for RASTA because they grow quickly, from seed to producing and edible radish in only 21 days. Something like watermellon would be tough. It's very large, not well suited to the small amount of space that's available to us, although I'm sure the astronauts would love it!!

[ LizStryjewski/KSC - 24 - 10:23:27 ]
RE: [Robert/TeacherBelmontCareerCenterOh] How important is math and mechinical skiils to your field ?
Robert asked about math and mechanical skills. Both are very important. I would like to emphasize that a well-rounded education is always important. I often go back to things I learned in classes that were "not related" to my field. All the sciences (including math) are intimately related. A good background in all are extremely important. I rely heavily on physics and optics in my field, although my degree is in molecular biology.

[ LizStryjewski/KSC - 25 - 10:30:16 ]
RE: [Jill] I don't know what you mean by "how that plant partitions carbon"
Hi Jill, Sorry about that, I should have made my answer clearer. Carbohydrates are a very important part of our diet. This includes sugars and starches like bread and pasta. Carbohydrates are made up of carbon, so when we are talking about a plant producing food, we are talking about the amount of carbon (or carbohydrate) the plant produces. The plant can either put this carbon into its leaves (that we can't eat) or into something like a radish that we can eat. So, when we are looking at carbon partitioning, we want to know how much carbon is in the leaves vs how much is in the radish. Does that make more sense?

[ LizStryjewski/KSC - 27 - 10:39:23 ]
RE: [Richard/NASA] Will you use sunlight to grow plants in space? Either now or in the future?
Richard asked about using sunlight to grow our plants. We won't use sunlight for the plants we grow on the shuttle or ISS. there are a variety of reasons for this, but the main one is the orbit problem. When you're on the shuttle or ISS, you're orbiting the earth, so the Earth is between you and the sun (you're in the dark) for about 45 minutes out of every 90 minutes. This is not a cycle that plants would appreciate. If you could find a situation where you faced the sun 12-16 hours/day and could filter out radiation that might hurt your plants, the sun could be an energy source.

[ LizStryjewski/KSC - 30 - 10:43:12 ]
RE: [Sabrina/Singapore/sec1] Hello there! our teacher asked us to do a project on a LIVING, FEMALE SCIENTIST who is born in our birthday month. now, she asked us to merge groups so that our chances would be higher. So, I have come to ask if you or any of your colleagues are born in the months of MAY/APRIL. Pls help me, it is very hard to find LIVING FEMALE scientists. The few I found either don't hav their birth months written or are missing... THANKS A MILLION.
Hi Sabrina. Unfortunately my birthday is not in April/May, I would have loved to help you! I'm sure you will find many female scientists on the NASA website that you could contact.

[ LizStryjewski/KSC - 31 - 10:45:53 ]
RE: [PattiCamposJrHi] When will RASTA fly?
Hi Patti, RASTA is still in the developmental stage, so it hasn't been scheduled for a flight yet. We are hoping to fly in 2003, but I can't be more spacific than that. A lot can happen between now and then, so keep your fingers crossed!

[ LizStryjewski/KSC - 34 - 10:51:50 ]
RE: [Tahjj] What are your hobbies and why do you like them
Hi Tahjj, You may not believe this, but my absolute favorite thing to do is play ice hockey. I'm the captain of a men's ice hockey team (actually, I'm the only girl in the league) and we won the league championship last week! Why do I like it? Hmm.... Lots of reasons I guess. I love skating and it's a very intense game, so it's a time when I can completely forget all my worries.

[ LizStryjewski/KSC - 36 - 10:54:53 ]
RE: [Ryan] What does RASTA stand for?
Hi Ryan, RASTA stands for "Radish Assimilation in Spaceflight Testbed Atmospheres". Just between you and me (and the rest of the webcast!) , I think they came up with the acronym and found words to fit it... :-)

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 37 - 10:55:30 ]
Don't forget, you can join Classroom of the Future in an Interactive Plant Growth experience beginning Feb. 11. See: http://quest.nasa.gov/calendar/february02.html#cotf

[ LizStryjewski/KSC - 38 - 10:58:47 ]
RE: [PattiCamposJrHi] Do any of your studies of muscle atrophy apply to plant growth in space?
Hi Patti, you must be psychic.... when I was first hired here, I was working for the muscle physiology group and we were studying muscle atrophy in humans. So I really know both of these fields and I'm trying to think if there's a connection... I might be able to come up with a physilophical connection, but I can't think of a direct one. Good question though!

[ LizStryjewski/KSC - 42 - 11:03:49 ]
RE: [Terri] How do you achieve "sunlight" in space? Do you try to approximate Earth's sunlight?
Hi Terri, there are several ways to provide light to plants in space. We aren't really concerned with mimicking sunlight but rather providing the kind of light that the plants can use. For instance, sunlight includes green light. Plants don't use green light, they reflect it (that's why they look green), so there's no need for us to provide them with green light in space. they do use red light, so we try to concentrate our efforts on lighting sources that include red, like LEDs (light emmitting diodes).

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 41 - 11:03:49 ]
We have reached the end of the hour, and I want to thank Liz for her thoughtful and interesting answers to our questions. Please continue to join this series of webcasts from the Kennedy Space Center. See: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/projects/space/iss2001/