WEBVTT

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(quirky music)

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<v ->Many years ago, over cosmic, exuberant, jazz,</v>

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legendary musician Sun Ra and his orchestra

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excitedly sang out over and over again,

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"Space is the place".

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♪ Space is the place ♪

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♪ Space is the place ♪

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<v ->They sound optimistic, energized,</v>

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like they know something the listener doesn't

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and that they're trying to let us in on the secret.

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So what exactly did they mean?

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Space is the place for what?

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Black holes, alien worlds, robotic exploration,

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fantastic expeditions, gardening?

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Yes, you heard that right, gardening.

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Ohio State is deeply involved

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in the next generation of space research,

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and the discoveries we're expected to make

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could soon have profound impacts down here on planet Earth.

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(upbeat music)

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I am Franny Lazarus,

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and you're listening to "Now at Ohio State".

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We talk with researchers, innovators, and bold thinkers

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who look at our world, see what the real challenges are,

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and create the solutions that people need now.

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So before you start thinking about space crops

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and farming on the moon, let's begin slowly.

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Liftoff starts with a big picture conversation

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about space research at Ohio State

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and the partners joining us on this ambitious endeavor.

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John Horack is the Neil Armstrong Chair in Aerospace Policy

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in the College of Engineering at Ohio State.

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Additionally, he's a leading member of Ohio State's

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George Washington Carver Science Park initiative

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and its fascinating Starlab testing facility.

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John sits down with our Tatyana Woodall

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to discuss the future of space research,

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the initiative itself,

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and how Ohio State is playing a major role

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in the future of space discovery.

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<v ->So John, you're a professor</v>

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in mechanical and aerospace engineering

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as well as the Neil A Armstrong chair in Aerospace Policy

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in the College of Engineering here at Ohio State.

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You also work at NASA, where you're responsible

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for advanced complex science and exploration research.

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Can you tell me about how you use

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that obvious passion for science and space

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to pivot from one public institution to another,

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and sort of what your work entails here now?

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<v ->Yeah, so it's interesting.</v>

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My appointment is both in

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mechanical and aerospace engineering

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and in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs.

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So it can be

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a very left brain-right brain kind of activity.

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You know, I think the one thing that I would say that,

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you know, I've had experience in NASA, in the space agency.

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I worked there for 17 years.

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I've also been in the private sector.

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I had profit responsibility at a company in Huntsville

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called Teledyne Brown Engineering.

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Did that for four years.

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And then I was also the Vice President for Research

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at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

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So when you have sort of academia, government,

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and for-profit experience put together,

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I hope that it brings a more wholesome perspective

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on sort of how space is done across those three domains,

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and can be used both to inform research

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so that it's maybe more generative of outcomes

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that either serve a national interest priority

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or take advantage of a national interest opportunity,

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as well as gives me some opportunity to work with students

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who might want to have a range of career paths

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and say, "Well, here's what I know about that

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because I have some experience here.

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Here's what I know about that

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because I have some experience there."

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And to try to bring a more holistic perspective

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to the activity of space flight and space research

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that we do not only in the United States,

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but around the world.

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<v ->I know you're also one of the main spokespeople</v>

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for the George Washington Carver Science Park,

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a first of its kind park

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devoted completely to science research.

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Can you explain what that program is

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and sort of its overall goals?

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<v ->Yeah, so there's two pieces to the work</v>

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that we're doing there

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with regards to the George Washington Carver Science Park.

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The park itself is an opportunity for Ohio State

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to build an ecosystem of human beings, assets,

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capabilities, laboratories, facilities,

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students, faculty members

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to fortify the growth of commercial research

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in low Earth orbit that will be coming

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following the retirement

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of the International Space Station in 2030.

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And we are working with Voyager Space

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as well as the Starlab program,

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which is the name of one of the space stations

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that will follow the ISS.

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Starlab is itself a joint venture between Voyager, Airbus,

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Mitsubishi, company in Canada called MDA.

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And the Carver Science Park is the ground ecosystem

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to fortify all of that work that will go on in orbit.

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It can be very high consequence to failure.

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You kind of don't want to get up there and say,

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"Oh gee, wow, I should have brought

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a crescent wrench," right?

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I mean, those kinds of things

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need to be worked out on the ground

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so that when you get to space,

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you have as few surprises as possible.

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And plus, most people won't get to go fly in space.

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So where can you go to experience it as closely as possible

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and participate in it as meaningfully as possible?

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We believe that Ohio State

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is gonna be one of the major places in the world to do that

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when it comes to research in low Earth orbit

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in 2030 and beyond.

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<v ->Have there been any challenges</v>

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that you foresee the park going through?

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And how do you see overcoming that?

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<v ->Research in some ways is what you call doing</v>

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when you don't know exactly what you're doing, right?

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Research can be very sort of self guiding in the sense

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that the next question you ask is a function of

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what the answer is to the question you're asking now.

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So we will have all kinds of challenges, right?

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We will have technical challenges about, you know,

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how do we fully leverage the space flight environment

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to improve human health, right?

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How do we leverage the space flight environment

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to build innovative new materials

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that we can either learn how to make in space

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and come back down and do on the ground, or use in space.

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So there'll be technical challenges, right?

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We're coming into this new era

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where the intersection of government, commercial enterprises

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and the university research environment

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is new, it's emerging.

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We see the influence of commercial space now

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through things like the fact that we launch astronauts

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to the space station on a commercial basis.

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The national security enterprise in the United States

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is relying more and more on commercial companies

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as opposed to building

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their own $2 billion spacecraft and operating them.

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And the question has to be asked, you know, what is the role

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of the public land grant university in that going forward,

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given that we are here to educate people for citizenship,

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to help solve national and global challenges,

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and take advantage of the opportunities that are presented

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through our research, our faculty,

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our students, and our facilities.

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So there's a lot of innovation.

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And I think the list of challenges will be large,

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but I'm looking forward to them.

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Because if we're not encountering challenges,

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we're not breaking barriers, we're not innovating,

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and we're not moving forward.

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That's the definition of progress.

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If you climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the fact that it's uphill

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makes you tired, but it also tells you

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that you're headed in the right direction.

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<v ->Starlab won't launch until 2027.</v>

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And you previously estimated

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that the park will be up and running mid 2028.

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So what's happening in the meantime

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to keep building momentum?

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<v ->I think a more accurate launch date</v>

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is probably near the end of 2028.

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What we're aiming for, Tatyana,

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is to have some amount of overlap between Starlab

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and the International Space Station

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so that you have both up at the same time,

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so you can sort of transition from one to the other.

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But you don't want that to be too long,

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and you certainly don't want a gap.

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So what we have to do in the meantime

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is sort of begin to fill the pipeline of research

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so that we are ready to go

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the minute Starlab is launched into space.

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Different from the International Space Station,

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which took maybe four dozen, five dozen assembly flights,

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depending on how you want to count them,

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many of them from the space shuttle,

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but also from you know, non-human launches as well,

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station wasn't really ready to go for full utilization

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until long after,

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maybe 15 years after the first piece was launched.

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We can't do that in a commercial environment.

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So Starlab is designed to be

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what I'll call a ship and shoot space station.

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It's ready right outta the box.

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And so what we're doing now,

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even though we're in a temporary facility

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in the College of Food, Ag and Environmental Sciences

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in the Food, Ag and Biological Engineering Department,

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is that we're beginning to seed the garden for research,

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if I can continue with the food and ag environment analogy.

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That is that, you know, by the time you launch,

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we want some very ripe, robust tomato plants

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producing research fruit.

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And today we're putting the little seeds into little cups

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and watering them so they can grow

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and be incubated on the ground

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and find their way to space flight activities.

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Now, that crosses a huge dynamic range of research.

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I have a graduate student, Cassidy Brozovich,

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who's working on how to water plants in space.

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Another graduate student, Ed Louise,

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working on how to do cold welding in space.

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We just returned an experiment back to Ohio State

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that flew on a parabolic aircraft

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or the Vomit Comet that people call it

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to do zero G welding in space, also in vacuums.

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That was the first time that was ever done.

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So there's an enormous dynamic range of research ongoing

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at what I would call the early stages

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to grow it and support that research

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so that by the time Starlab is in orbit,

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we're ready to go with flight experiments.

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<v ->Taking that back to what you said about research fruit,</v>

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can you tell me about why understanding

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and taking the time to invest in space research

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might be important for Ohioans on the ground?

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<v ->So space has become an essential element of life</v>

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in the 21st century.

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From the time we wake up, even while we're sleeping,

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to the time we go to sleep,

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we're using space 24-7-365

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to find our way around, to order Uber Eats,

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your ADT system, you know, connects to satellites.

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It's just incredible what space has done for us.

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And like clean water, clean air, reliable power,

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it's an essential component of the modern world.

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And so not only has it become as important as those things,

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it is also now becoming

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an extremely important research environment

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for us to learn about how to live better on Earth.

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<v ->You said before that you believe humanity</v>

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is basically already a spacefaring race,

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mainly because people have been in the ISS 24-7 since 2000.

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So can you tell me how you see the space industry

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continuing to evolve?

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And do you have any predictions about how big a spot,

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you know, this program will play,

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or like I said, Ohio State will play on that stage?

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<v ->So yes, in some ways</v>

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humanity has been a spacefaring civilization

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ever since there was civilization,

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because we all ride on a spaceship called Planet Earth

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and we're stuck kind of, you know,

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2/3 of the way out from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

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We are spacefaring.

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Everything on Earth is spacefaring.

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Whether we choose to look at it that way or not,

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I believe that to be true.

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The fact that we have had people on orbit 24-7-365

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since November of 2000, you know, 24 years now,

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that's an amazing step forward for humanity,

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because now we not only go visit, but we live there.

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And so what I think you see

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is as we push humanity out into space

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and we spend longer times in space,

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we actually integrate space more deeply

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into our lives on the ground.

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Whether that's just by knowing

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or by having a sense of what it's like by being there

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or leveraging the space environment

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for better communications, better drugs, better materials,

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better knowledge and insight

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and understanding our place in the universe.

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Maybe the best thing we can do is use space

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to learn about our place in it

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so we can all be better by being better to each other,

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realizing that we share the same planet,

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we drink the same clean water, hopefully,

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we have to breathe the same air.

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And somehow we gotta figure it out rather than fight it out.

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'Cause the universe can be kind of agnostic

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about whether we're here or not.

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So let's be here.

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<v ->John, thank you so much for your time and for joining us.</v>

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I feel like I've learned so much from you today.

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<v ->Tatyana, thanks.</v>

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It's always great to work with you,

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and I look forward to doing

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many more things together with you

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as we push the envelope on low Earth orbit research

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here at Ohio State.

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(energetic music)

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<v ->Okay, okay, consider this.</v>

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Plants in space.

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Our next guest is studying exactly that.

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Cassidy Brozovich

301
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is a graduate student in mechanical engineering

302
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and agricultural engineering.

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Her research aims to better understand

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and improve plant growing operations in space,

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and how we can take those findings

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and utilize them here on Earth.

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Again, our Tatyana Woodall sits down with Cassidy

308
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to discuss her research, her unique passion,

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and what her work means for biology and botany here on land.

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<v ->Cassidy, it's so good to talk to you again.</v>

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Thanks so much for coming on today.

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<v ->Yeah, absolutely.</v>

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I'm happy to be here.

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<v ->You're currently a PhD student</v>

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in the College of Food, Agricultural

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and Environmental Sciences

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as well as a member of Ohio State Starlab

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George Washington Carver Science Park team.

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At first glance, these seem like very different pathways.

320
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So can you tell me a little bit about

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how you've taken really unique passions

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and joined them into a blossoming career?

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<v ->I did a lot of undergrad research here at OSU.</v>

324
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I was in the same major I am in now,

325
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so Food, Ag and Bioengineering.

326
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But back then I was in something

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called ecological engineering.

328
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So I learned really early on that I really loved fluids

329
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through the stormwater stuff.

330
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I also got to look at a couple soil things.

331
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So I was like,

332
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"Okay, I like water and I like soil and that's great."

333
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And then I learned about our Starlab program

334
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and the involvement my department had in it,

335
00:14:16.890 --> 00:14:18.415
and it just sounded like something

336
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I've never really heard of before.

337
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I didn't know that space ag was a thing.

338
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And at first it was really overwhelming

339
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'cause I really didn't really feel like I had a place there.

340
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I was like, you know, everyone's studying rockets

341
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and propulsion and nuclear

342
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and like, all these like very traditional space things.

343
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But then I kind of found my little niche

344
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in the group of people who do this space ag, space biology,

345
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bioastronautics type of work.

346
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And I really just kind of fell in love with it.

347
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And the reason why I decided to stay with it was

348
00:14:50.400 --> 00:14:53.610
it was kind of one of situations where I sat with it

349
00:14:53.610 --> 00:14:55.890
and I was like, "Do I wanna do this for grad school,

350
00:14:55.890 --> 00:14:59.970
or do I wanna take this job offer I have in stormwater?"

351
00:14:59.970 --> 00:15:02.280
It was something that I couldn't quite put away,

352
00:15:02.280 --> 00:15:04.770
and I knew I would be mad at myself

353
00:15:04.770 --> 00:15:07.020
if I didn't explore it further.

354
00:15:07.020 --> 00:15:09.210
<v ->Diving deeper into your Starlab connection,</v>

355
00:15:09.210 --> 00:15:12.300
what does the George Washington Carver Science Park program

356
00:15:12.300 --> 00:15:13.200
entail for students?

357
00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:15.060
And how can they get to interact

358
00:15:15.060 --> 00:15:16.380
or conduct research of their own

359
00:15:16.380 --> 00:15:17.880
inside the program's boundaries?

360
00:15:17.880 --> 00:15:20.430
<v ->It just opens doors.</v>

361
00:15:20.430 --> 00:15:23.400
Having a program like that at OSU just allows students

362
00:15:23.400 --> 00:15:26.557
who maybe are like me and had this small inkling where like,

363
00:15:26.557 --> 00:15:28.170
"Oh, space is actually kind of cool.

364
00:15:28.170 --> 00:15:30.570
Didn't know that there was a place for me in it.

365
00:15:30.570 --> 00:15:32.010
So now what do I do with that?"

366
00:15:32.010 --> 00:15:33.120
And it's really kind of this place

367
00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:35.206
where you can foster that interest.

368
00:15:35.206 --> 00:15:36.810
People always say there's two things

369
00:15:36.810 --> 00:15:39.270
you gotta tell a room full of kids to make them excited,

370
00:15:39.270 --> 00:15:41.100
and it's space and dinosaurs.

371
00:15:41.100 --> 00:15:45.060
And I think if Ohio State just emphasizes that we have space

372
00:15:45.060 --> 00:15:48.600
and we're a university for space, students will flock.

373
00:15:48.600 --> 00:15:50.610
<v ->Why is growing plants in space</v>

374
00:15:50.610 --> 00:15:52.710
traditionally such a difficult endeavor?

375
00:15:52.710 --> 00:15:55.080
<v ->Anytime you get into the spaceflight environment,</v>

376
00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:56.610
especially living things,

377
00:15:56.610 --> 00:16:01.200
but anything we take for granted here on Earth changes.

378
00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:04.050
From crystallization of different molecules

379
00:16:04.050 --> 00:16:06.060
when you're talking about materials,

380
00:16:06.060 --> 00:16:07.980
and then on the biology side

381
00:16:07.980 --> 00:16:09.600
you have cells forming differently.

382
00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:12.990
So sometimes, you know, here on Earth we get ellipse cells

383
00:16:12.990 --> 00:16:14.430
so it kind of looks like an oval,

384
00:16:14.430 --> 00:16:18.210
but in microgravity it's a perfect circle.

385
00:16:18.210 --> 00:16:21.450
And that just doesn't form like we have here on Earth.

386
00:16:21.450 --> 00:16:24.120
When it comes to plants though too, there's some mechanisms

387
00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:26.280
and genes that we've been studying of like,

388
00:16:26.280 --> 00:16:29.820
what is the microgravity and gravity gene?

389
00:16:29.820 --> 00:16:32.640
How does the plant know to put its roots in the ground

390
00:16:32.640 --> 00:16:34.440
and the shoot up?

391
00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:37.650
And the root zone is where I'm kind of specialized in.

392
00:16:37.650 --> 00:16:40.110
And it's just so fascinating to see like, you know,

393
00:16:40.110 --> 00:16:42.360
the shape and formation the roots take

394
00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:45.210
in a microgravity environment versus Earth.

395
00:16:45.210 --> 00:16:47.010
So you could see like, you know,

396
00:16:47.010 --> 00:16:48.990
how are they planning to find the water

397
00:16:48.990 --> 00:16:51.210
and what changes when they get up there?

398
00:16:51.210 --> 00:16:53.403
When normally on Earth, like you know,

399
00:16:55.260 --> 00:16:58.020
roots can kind of like, find the water,

400
00:16:58.020 --> 00:17:00.090
they just kind of seek it out.

401
00:17:00.090 --> 00:17:02.072
But when your water's not in a traditional place

402
00:17:02.072 --> 00:17:03.270
that you've been bred

403
00:17:03.270 --> 00:17:07.140
for generations and generations to find, what do you do?

404
00:17:07.140 --> 00:17:09.390
One of the things that's been an issue this whole time

405
00:17:09.390 --> 00:17:11.190
is water delivery.

406
00:17:11.190 --> 00:17:14.010
So water itself acts very differently in space

407
00:17:14.010 --> 00:17:15.570
than it does on Earth.

408
00:17:15.570 --> 00:17:18.425
For one, it kind of globs up into a fun ball,

409
00:17:18.425 --> 00:17:21.150
whereas on Earth, if we're talking about growing plants

410
00:17:21.150 --> 00:17:22.350
and watering them,

411
00:17:22.350 --> 00:17:26.250
you irrigate your roots and the water falls down

412
00:17:26.250 --> 00:17:28.950
and goes into our groundwater system.

413
00:17:28.950 --> 00:17:31.110
But in space, nothing falls down.

414
00:17:31.110 --> 00:17:32.880
They have these things called plant pillows,

415
00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:34.230
which is what they're currently using

416
00:17:34.230 --> 00:17:36.540
to grow the plants in right now.

417
00:17:36.540 --> 00:17:40.290
And it's basically this tarp-like tissue box structure

418
00:17:40.290 --> 00:17:41.700
filled with this clay material,

419
00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:43.980
and it's the same material you see on baseball fields.

420
00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:46.530
So that orange stuff on a baseball field, they pack it up

421
00:17:46.530 --> 00:17:48.720
and ship it up to space to grow plants.

422
00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:51.450
And that plant pillow, there's one of two things

423
00:17:51.450 --> 00:17:54.420
that normally happens for making it really difficult.

424
00:17:54.420 --> 00:17:56.850
The first is that the water will find the root

425
00:17:56.850 --> 00:17:59.100
but then encapsulate the root.

426
00:17:59.100 --> 00:18:02.880
And because of differences in buoyancy when you go to space

427
00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:05.910
and gas diffusion, it ends up suffocating the root

428
00:18:05.910 --> 00:18:07.380
because there's no oxygen

429
00:18:07.380 --> 00:18:08.970
able to get to that root at that point.

430
00:18:08.970 --> 00:18:11.790
So it kind of like, snugs it like a little sweater.

431
00:18:11.790 --> 00:18:14.520
And the second thing that happens is

432
00:18:14.520 --> 00:18:17.340
the water will find a corner within your plant pillow

433
00:18:17.340 --> 00:18:18.173
and pool there,

434
00:18:18.173 --> 00:18:20.400
and then the roots never have time to find it

435
00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:21.600
and they dry out.

436
00:18:21.600 --> 00:18:24.780
<v ->You already said sort of what they do now,</v>

437
00:18:24.780 --> 00:18:26.820
but much of your research actually revolves around

438
00:18:26.820 --> 00:18:28.230
plant container design.

439
00:18:28.230 --> 00:18:31.980
So can you explain why even minute details like that

440
00:18:31.980 --> 00:18:34.620
are vital to future space experiments?

441
00:18:34.620 --> 00:18:36.600
<v ->What we're hoping to do is get to that level</v>

442
00:18:36.600 --> 00:18:38.340
where we can have production scale

443
00:18:38.340 --> 00:18:40.710
so that astronauts can eat that food,

444
00:18:40.710 --> 00:18:43.020
mostly so that they can have that supplemental like,

445
00:18:43.020 --> 00:18:44.970
nutritious, fresh vegetables.

446
00:18:44.970 --> 00:18:47.130
And the water delivery of the root zone

447
00:18:47.130 --> 00:18:48.930
is really where it all starts.

448
00:18:48.930 --> 00:18:50.940
If you can't get water to your seed,

449
00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:52.290
it will never germinate.

450
00:18:52.290 --> 00:18:54.477
And all these things we take for granted down here,

451
00:18:54.477 --> 00:18:56.827
you'll go up there and design anything and you're like,

452
00:18:56.827 --> 00:19:01.827
"I had no idea that gravity was involved in that working."

453
00:19:02.100 --> 00:19:05.520
Just figuring out that getting water to the seed

454
00:19:05.520 --> 00:19:08.103
is exactly where I'm at right now.

455
00:19:09.149 --> 00:19:11.100
And trying to control the water movement

456
00:19:11.100 --> 00:19:12.120
so it doesn't suffocate it,

457
00:19:12.120 --> 00:19:14.670
but also so that it still finds it.

458
00:19:14.670 --> 00:19:16.590
<v ->Are there any other advantages</v>

459
00:19:16.590 --> 00:19:18.810
to doing the same kinds of experiments simultaneously,

460
00:19:18.810 --> 00:19:20.160
both on the Earth and in space?

461
00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:21.210
<v ->Oh yeah, absolutely.</v>

462
00:19:21.210 --> 00:19:24.210
So that's always really important in any kind of research.

463
00:19:24.210 --> 00:19:26.250
You always wanna have some kind of control.

464
00:19:26.250 --> 00:19:28.470
And we could kind of use that with, you know,

465
00:19:28.470 --> 00:19:31.320
having a lab on Earth and then having a lab in space.

466
00:19:31.320 --> 00:19:34.533
So with that analog facility that we're working in,

467
00:19:34.533 --> 00:19:37.140
you can set up everything, make sure everything works.

468
00:19:37.140 --> 00:19:38.970
The only thing you can't turn off is gravity

469
00:19:38.970 --> 00:19:41.760
and you can't turn on heavy radiation.

470
00:19:41.760 --> 00:19:43.710
So you can make sure everything works, everything plugs in,

471
00:19:43.710 --> 00:19:46.925
nothing's gonna like, blow up when you plug it in,

472
00:19:46.925 --> 00:19:48.180
and that you're ready to go.

473
00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:49.170
You have your procedures

474
00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:52.200
for exactly the kind of environment you're gonna be in.

475
00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:54.360
So you have your experiment here on Earth

476
00:19:54.360 --> 00:19:56.190
and you're gonna run the same exact thing

477
00:19:56.190 --> 00:19:58.290
that you then send up to space.

478
00:19:58.290 --> 00:20:00.990
And what that allows you to do is do a full comparison test.

479
00:20:00.990 --> 00:20:02.970
So what are the results we're getting here on Earth?

480
00:20:02.970 --> 00:20:05.280
And then what results are we getting in space?

481
00:20:05.280 --> 00:20:06.660
And then if they differ anywhere,

482
00:20:06.660 --> 00:20:09.450
it's, okay, is it because it's in space

483
00:20:09.450 --> 00:20:11.190
as to why that's a difference?

484
00:20:11.190 --> 00:20:14.640
And that's where you can get your little bits of information

485
00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:18.420
of like, "I had no idea that gravity was involved in that,

486
00:20:18.420 --> 00:20:19.560
but now I do,

487
00:20:19.560 --> 00:20:22.320
because it's very different than what I've got down here."

488
00:20:22.320 --> 00:20:23.580
That's why it's really beneficial

489
00:20:23.580 --> 00:20:28.140
to have both your Earth asset and your space asset together.

490
00:20:28.140 --> 00:20:30.210
<v ->Can you speak to how encouraging plant science</v>

491
00:20:30.210 --> 00:20:32.640
in low Earth orbit might also be beneficial

492
00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:35.640
for agricultural advances on the ground, especially in Ohio?

493
00:20:35.640 --> 00:20:38.040
<v ->Yeah, agriculture's a really big industry,</v>

494
00:20:38.040 --> 00:20:39.360
especially in Ohio.

495
00:20:39.360 --> 00:20:41.640
You can kind of go 10 minutes out of any city

496
00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:43.140
and you'll hit farmlands.

497
00:20:43.140 --> 00:20:45.810
Space is super stressful for plants.

498
00:20:45.810 --> 00:20:48.570
And they kind of act like how plants act on Earth

499
00:20:48.570 --> 00:20:49.920
when they're sick.

500
00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:52.170
And if we're able to then, you know,

501
00:20:52.170 --> 00:20:54.390
fix the plant up in space

502
00:20:54.390 --> 00:20:56.820
and make it healthy again and really strong,

503
00:20:56.820 --> 00:21:00.360
and then maybe also some of the seeds of that plant

504
00:21:00.360 --> 00:21:01.680
are different

505
00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:04.140
because they were in that microgravity environment

506
00:21:04.140 --> 00:21:06.810
and grew in that microgravity environment

507
00:21:06.810 --> 00:21:08.250
and were exposed to radiation,

508
00:21:08.250 --> 00:21:09.540
so maybe some mutations happened,

509
00:21:09.540 --> 00:21:12.000
but maybe they were beneficial mutations.

510
00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:14.070
We can then bring those seeds back down on Earth

511
00:21:14.070 --> 00:21:18.780
and have a strong crop, like really, really strong crop

512
00:21:18.780 --> 00:21:21.870
that is able to endure drought,

513
00:21:21.870 --> 00:21:24.870
which has been really important this past year in Ohio.

514
00:21:24.870 --> 00:21:27.870
Maybe you can have a plant that is able to adapt

515
00:21:27.870 --> 00:21:29.430
to extreme drought,

516
00:21:29.430 --> 00:21:33.240
maybe a plant that can do extreme hot and cold.

517
00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:34.530
Maybe you can have a plant

518
00:21:34.530 --> 00:21:38.220
that grows in a more compressed manner.

519
00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:39.570
So maybe you wanna have,

520
00:21:39.570 --> 00:21:43.380
in controlled ag, that vertical farming aspect,

521
00:21:43.380 --> 00:21:47.730
maybe you can have multiple rows of a crop like corn

522
00:21:47.730 --> 00:21:49.650
which takes up a lot of space on a field,

523
00:21:49.650 --> 00:21:51.330
but maybe you can make it shorter

524
00:21:51.330 --> 00:21:54.630
through adaptations of being in a space flight environment

525
00:21:54.630 --> 00:21:57.390
and confined to the very, very small area

526
00:21:57.390 --> 00:21:59.670
you're given in space to grow plants.

527
00:21:59.670 --> 00:22:03.060
Maybe we can grow a corn in space that's really compact,

528
00:22:03.060 --> 00:22:04.830
really high in nutrients,

529
00:22:04.830 --> 00:22:06.810
and then we could take that seed from that plant

530
00:22:06.810 --> 00:22:09.720
that we grew up there and then bring it back down here.

531
00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:11.520
So if we can make a plant grow in space,

532
00:22:11.520 --> 00:22:13.860
we can make a plant grow anywhere down here on Earth.

533
00:22:13.860 --> 00:22:16.140
And that's kind of where I hit home with a lot of people.

534
00:22:16.140 --> 00:22:19.710
You know, I'm working on water delivery for plants

535
00:22:19.710 --> 00:22:21.960
that might be grown in lunar regolith.

536
00:22:21.960 --> 00:22:24.750
Lunar regolith is basically moon dirt.

537
00:22:24.750 --> 00:22:28.555
And it does not, like, plants don't want to grow in it.

538
00:22:28.555 --> 00:22:30.510
It's not good for that.

539
00:22:30.510 --> 00:22:32.490
And it's basically like a sand,

540
00:22:32.490 --> 00:22:34.170
but a really, really fine sand.

541
00:22:34.170 --> 00:22:38.100
And if I can make a plant grow in that substance,

542
00:22:38.100 --> 00:22:40.260
then I can make a plant grow on Earth

543
00:22:40.260 --> 00:22:41.940
where there's places like, you know,

544
00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:45.810
desertification happening and poor soil health.

545
00:22:45.810 --> 00:22:47.910
So that's kind of how it connects the two.

546
00:22:48.840 --> 00:22:50.550
<v ->Well, Cassidy, it's been a pleasure to talk to you.</v>

547
00:22:50.550 --> 00:22:52.920
You've been doing and will be continuing to do

548
00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:54.060
some really groundbreaking research,

549
00:22:54.060 --> 00:22:55.560
and I can't wait to see where it goes.

550
00:22:55.560 --> 00:22:57.030
<v ->Thank you so much for having me today.</v>

551
00:22:57.030 --> 00:22:59.220
This has been an absolute honor and pleasure.

552
00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:00.655
<v ->Thank you.</v>

553
00:23:00.655 --> 00:23:03.488
(energetic music)

554
00:23:15.420 --> 00:23:17.790
<v ->There's so much we've yet to learn about space,</v>

555
00:23:17.790 --> 00:23:20.490
how water flows in a zero gravity environment,

556
00:23:20.490 --> 00:23:23.280
how to grow potentially life-sustaining plants,

557
00:23:23.280 --> 00:23:26.700
and how to address uniquely human health challenges.

558
00:23:26.700 --> 00:23:27.925
It's abundantly clear

559
00:23:27.925 --> 00:23:30.390
that the future of space research is thriving,

560
00:23:30.390 --> 00:23:31.500
and it's exciting to know

561
00:23:31.500 --> 00:23:35.028
that Ohio State is on the forefront of these discoveries.

562
00:23:35.028 --> 00:23:37.590
♪ Space is the place ♪

563
00:23:37.590 --> 00:23:40.350
<v ->So maybe Sun Ra and his orchestra were right.</v>

564
00:23:40.350 --> 00:23:45.350
He knew, to sow a cosmic garden, space really is the place.

565
00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:47.825
♪ Free ♪

566
00:23:47.825 --> 00:23:50.824
♪ Space is the place ♪

567
00:23:50.824 --> 00:23:53.407
(upbeat music)

568
00:24:00.667 --> 00:24:02.250
<v ->"Now at Ohio State" is produced by</v>

569
00:24:02.250 --> 00:24:03.660
the Ohio State University's

570
00:24:03.660 --> 00:24:05.850
Office of Marketing and Communications.

571
00:24:05.850 --> 00:24:10.830
For more information, visit us at go.osu.edu/now.

572
00:24:10.830 --> 00:24:12.000
I'm Franny Lazarus.

573
00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:13.860
Thanks for listening.

574
00:24:13.860 --> 00:24:16.443
(upbeat music)

