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The original concept was developed by
Oleg Kuznetsov .
The design takes into account that in microgravity seeds can grow upward or downward such that in each gap between two adjacent magnets two sets of roots can be examined. Each Magnetic Field chamber consists of ten NdFeB magnets that are mounted in two stories in a 'circuit', which is closed by two yokes. Eight seed cassettes accommodate eight seeds each. The volume etc. has been optimized for seeds of Linum usitatissimum L. (flax).
TOP: Front view, BOTTOM: Top view |
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The seeds cassettes contain a strip of
germination paper, shown here with the no longer used plastic material. The two pieces snap together and hold the paper with the attached seeds in place. |
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Assembly of all parts of the Biotube assembly without any connections. |
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The flight-ready hardware (as above) but with all connections, tubing, and reduced base plate. The metal box
on the right contains the computer control that moves the cameras, images the MFC's, stores the pictures to two
independent hard drives and dispenses fixative to terminate the experiment. |
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The Micro-Effusion Delivery Unit for Space Applications (MEDUSA) contains a 24 piston head that delivers water to each
individual seed cassette. A single stepper motor drives all pistons simultaneously. |
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The front view of the computer control unit consists of a flat panel display, a pointing device and a video control port,
that allows downlinking during flight. |
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The KSC support team that is responsible for design, engineering, logistics, and organization of hardware development.
(L-R) David Cox, April Boody and Ken Anderson
Not shown: software engineer Don Platt. |
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Howard Levine is the Project Science Coordinator. |
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April Boody does a great job as Project Engineer. |