Quest Chat

Featuring Yuliy Berkovich

April 8, 2002

[ Lori/QuestChatHost - 179 - 23:09:50 ]
This chatroom has been created to accept your questions for the April 8 chat with Russian Scientist, Yuliy Berkovich. Questions may be placed here at any time. They will be held in a queue until the time of the webcast and will not be visible until that time. Please do not repeat your questions.

[ Lori/QuestChatHost - 180 - 23:12:42 ]
Please be sure and identify yourself in the body of your message as the "Your Name/Location" window is not working at this time -- Johnny/6th/TX or Pam/4th/Mr.Johnson (Remember, don't use your last name). For example -- Jesse/6th/Mr.Green - How many people live on the ISS?

[ Lori/QuestChatHost - 181 - 23:14:50 ]
Remember to read Yuliy's bio at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/people/bios/space/berkovich.html before attending so you can ask appropriate questions. If for some reason you cannot join us for the live chat, you can input your question ahead of time, and then read the archive later to see if your question was answered. It's not as cool as being there live, but it is very helpful when there are scheduling conflicts.

[ Lori/QuestChatHost - 184 - 16:59:35 ]
Welcome everyone to today's webchat with Russian scientist, Yuliy Berkovich, from the Kennedy Space Center. Good afternoon Yuliy!!

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 185 - 17:01:02 ]
RE: [Lori/QuestChatHost] Welcome everyone to today's webchat with Russian scientist, Yuliy Berkovich, from the Kennedy Space Center. Good afternoon Yuliy!!
Good afternoon Lori & students

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 191 - 17:03:20 ]
RE: [John] -- Do you speak English well?
Reasonably well.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 193 - 17:05:06 ]
RE: [Paul / 6th] -- What exactly is a root delivery system?
It's a system for root nutrients (minerals),water and air supply.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 195 - 17:08:10 ]
RE: [Bill] -- Why did you choose Chinese cabbage for your experiment?
Chinese cabbage has a short growout and good germination and fast growth rate to provide vitamin rich biomass for space crew members.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 197 - 17:13:44 ]
RE: [PS/6th/Ms.Hunt] What plants can currently grow succesfully in space?
Now plants grown in space are mostly for scientific purposes:arabidopsis, brassicas(leafy cabbage etc.), wheat, radish. We have the next task: to supply space station crews with salad crops.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 199 - 17:16:37 ]
RE: [ Ian/9thgrade -- Do you use special lights?
We used Cool white fluorescent lamps in the past. Now we are building a new plant growth system with Light Emitting Diodes.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 201 - 17:23:42 ]
RE: [Nancy] -- What type environment were the plants grown in? Did you use a special air supply?
Hi Nancy! Our plants are more sensitive to air pollutants so we have to filter the air from the crew cabin. Also we use an artificial ion exchange resin soil instead of natural with ventilated porous system.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 203 - 17:26:37 ]
RE: [Rebecca/grade5] -- How long have you been a scientist?
I was graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute and received my Ph.D. in 1977 from Institute of Biomedical Problems also in Moscow.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 205 - 17:30:25 ]
RE: [ Shannon/ Do you like working here in Florida? Have you visited any other states?
Hi Shannon! I'm enjoying my work at KSC very much. It's a good school for me. I have also been to California, Colorado, Utah, and a few other states to collaborate with American colleagues.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 207 - 17:39:02 ]
RE: [ Jessie -- What is the difference between the Vitocycle & the Phytocycle?
Hello Jessie! It's a good question. The Phytocycle is a ground based plant growth Facility. It's dependent on gravity for proper water distribution in artificial soil as it rotates twice an hour. Vitacycle is a system for microgravity. It was necessary to build a special ebb and flow automatic pumping system for water supply to plant roots with the help of porous tubes.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 209 - 17:46:28 ]
RE: [ Bill -- What does short grow-out mean? Is that from seeds sprouting until vegetables ready for harvest?
Bill, we use 30-days from germination to harvest leafy plants (cabbage, mustard lettuce) for crew diet enhancement. We select crop candidates that provides maximum edible biomass within 30 days period, because our conveyor crop has 10 root modules and 3 day steps of harvest.

[ Lori/QuestChatHost - 211 - 17:53:25 ]
Once Yuli finishes his current question, we will have time for him to answer one more.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 212 - 17:54:52 ]
RE: [ Justin / 9th grade -- What is the greatest discovery you have ever made in your research?
Justin hello. I guess it's the ability to grow plants on domed (cylindrical,spherical etc.)planting surfaces with same curved complementary light assembly in weightlessness. It allows us to significantly economize on energy consumption and volume for the space plant growth chamber.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 216 - 18:00:47 ]
RE: [ Does gravity affect your plant growth significantly?
Of course, gravity affect all plants significantly. Fortunately we can replace influence of gravity on root and stem orientation by means of another environmental stimulus: light distribution for stems and water distribution for roots.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 231 - 18:46:51 ]
RE: [ Pete -- What do you like most about your work?
Pete, I like working with living plants. I don't abuse them but rather I help them to grow and develop as best they can in different conditions.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 227 - 18:29:56 ]
RE: [ Maxine -- Do plant scientists from all over the world share information and discoveries?
Hi Maxine! I have never seen that scientists do not share their results. Let's hope it will continue.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 228 - 18:36:38 ]
RE: [ Brian / 8th -- What did you learn from your experiment on the video?
Brian hello. This experiments confirmed the possibility to grow plants with help of a special ebb and flow root delivery system, which is applicable to space conditions.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 229 - 18:39:38 ]
RE: [ Jackie -- Do you think you will ever move to the United States to live like your son has?
Jackie,I don't know now. I would like to work and live in Russia. But I could not live without my work. We will see.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 230 - 18:43:58 ]
RE: [ Robin:grade_10 -- Do you have any new designs in the works for space greenhouses?
Hello, Robin! Of course we have a number of patented designs for future space greenhouses. They will have distinctly different forms.

[ Lori/QuestChatHost - 217 - 18:01:53 ]
While Yuli is answering the last question for today, I want to remind everyone to join us tomorrow & Thursday for webcasts. See our Calendar of Events at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/calendar/index.html.

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 220 - 18:08:54 ]
RE: [ Rochelle -- what are bio-medical problems?
Hi Rochelle! There are many biomedical problems for every organism in space. For people and animals the main problem is bone demineralization and muscle atrophy, for plants - disorientation and root hypoxia (too little oxygen).

[ Lori/QuestChatHost - 218 - 18:02:53 ]
Well our time is up for today. I want to thank Yuli for sharing his time and expertise with us today. I also want to thank our student participants for such great questions.

[ Bill - 213 - 17:58:46 ]
-- Thank you Mr. Yuli Berkovich for chatting with us today!

[ From Justin - 214 - 17:58:46 ]
-- thank you sir for having a webchat today and answering our questions.

[ Nancy - 215 - 17:58:46 ]
-- Thanks for chating with us online Mr. Berkovich.

[ Lori/QuestChatHost - 219 - 18:07:05 ]
Have a great day all :-)

[ Yuli_Berkovich - 221 - 18:14:25 ]
RE: [Lori/QuestChatHost] Have a great day all :-)
Thank you all for participating in this Quest chat. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.