Space Rose - A rose grown in microgravity
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| Credit: DeviantArt |
Two decades ago, NASA developed a special growing chamber for plants for use on space missions, called Astroculture.
The chamber provided plants with the right amounts of nutrition, light, humidity and heat to survive in orbit. Space Rose - A rose grown in microgravity
Read a detailed article on how NASA is planning to grow vegetables and plants on Moon - Click Here. Space Rose - A rose grown in microgravity
A perfume company wanted to test if the scent of a rose changed in space. Though researchers knew that microgravity led to biological changes in plants, they had not studied its impact on the volatile oils that give fragrance. Space Rose - A rose grown in microgravity
A 17.5 cm- tall miniature rose variety named Overnight Scentsation was chosen for the experiment. The rose roared into space in October 1998 on the space shuttle Discovery. The astronauts tested the volatile oils on the two flowers that bloomed aboard the shuttle by touching a special wand to their surfaces.
When the samples were analysed, it was found that the amount of volatile oils produced was less than on Earth and the scent was different, too as we expected something different because it was an another place than Earth. The perfume company went on to create a note from this scent called 'space rose'. From these notes, International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF), Inc., of New York, New York, discovered this new scent, “space rose, as we stated above. Space Rose - A rose grown in microgravity
A cosmetics firm used the note in one of their perfumes which they called Zen! And the further research is also going in this field, to get more astonising and fruitful outcomes.
The collaboration between IFF and WCSAR had continued on STS-107, a shuttle mission was slated for launch in January 2003. This time the plan was to send up two different plants--a rose and an Asian rice flower--again placed in the ASTROCULTURE facility. Like Romeo and Juliet, the flowers will touch each other. This as well as the low gravity, said Space-scent researcher Braja Mookherjee (IFF Director of Global Natural Products), will alter the molecules they emit. Space Rose - A rose grown in microgravity
The ability to do research in space, concluded Mookherjee, gives a whole new dimension to the field of fragrance studies. "It's a fantastic opportunity for the enthusiasts of space science and as well as of fragrance" he said ...one that the Bard himself might have appreciate. Space Rose - A rose grown in microgravity
Credit: International Flavors & Fragrances
Source: NASA and The Hitavada Knowledge Magazine
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