97-10-23 News Availability For Moss in Space

                          NEWS ADVISORY:
   RESEARCH TEAM TO SEND MOSS EXPERIMENT ON NEXT SPACE SHUTTLE

     The next NASA space shuttle flight, scheduled for launch on
Nov. 19, will carry an experiment developed at The Ohio State
University by plant biologist Fred Sack.  The shuttle, a joint
U.S.-Ukranian mission, will carry Sack’s forest of moss plants in
space-friendly petri dishes contained in specially designed
hardware.  One of the research goals is to see how the absence of
gravity affects moss-tip growth cells.

     Sack’s research team includes postdoctoral researcher Volker
Kern and undergraduate plant biology student Nathan White.  All
three men will be available in their lab from 1 to 3 p.m. on
Tuesday, Oct. 28, to meet with reporters interested in learning
more about the project.  The lab is in Room 168 of the B & Z
Building, at the northwest corner of Neil and 12th avenues.  Park
in loading area behind the building, enter rear door in the
loading dock area, go up one flight of stairs, turn right and
pass through the double doors into the lab annex.

     Sack’s experiment is one of several plant biology
experiments that are collaborations between U.S. and Ukranian
scientists.  A Ukranian cosmonaut will perform the in-space
portions of the experiment during the 16-day flight.  Two other
American universities also have experiments on the shuttle.

     Sack, Kern and White will be at the Kennedy Space Center for
the launch, and Kern and White are part of the crew responsible
for last-minute preparations for loading the experiment.  White,
the undergraduate, is growing the moss that will fly.

     The shuttle mission has a strong educational component, and
school children around the country will be performing similiar
experiments in their classrooms.  Some Florida school children
will be performing Sack’s moss experiment.

                             #

Contact:  Ruth Gerstner, University Communications, 292-8424


[Submitted by: Von Vargas  (vargas.12@osu.edu)
               
Thu, 23 Oct 1997 16:31:19 -0400 (EDT)]
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