University of Florida scientists to fly Blue Origin suborbital mission

University of Florida Distinguished Professor Rob Ferl will become the first NASA-funded academic researcher to serve as part of a commercial astronaut crew on an upcoming mission aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket Experiment during the mission.

Fair, who is also director of the University of Florida’s new Space Institute, has spent his career studying how biology responds to spaceflight, from experiments at the Gainesville lab to parabolic flight tests to the space shuttle and international Space station project.

Now, with funding from NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, Fair has the opportunity to conduct experiments himself to study how the transition to microgravity affects gene expression in cells and, more broadly, provides insights into future “researcher-led” research into Asia. Orbital flights develop protocols.

“The University of Florida is committed to the mission of space exploration and research,” said UF President Ben Sasse. “The findings from this work will be amazing. We are proud of Rob, grateful to our partners, and excited about the work ahead.”

Fair and colleague Anna-Lisa Paul, also a professor of horticultural sciences, have spent their careers understanding plant gene expression in microgravity, but most of their experiments have been performed by astronauts in space. As Paul said, when launching to the space station, astronauts now typically fly separately from the science payload, meaning the science is done “in space,” rather than “en route to space.”

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket offers scientists like Fairer the opportunity to conduct scientific research from gravity to microgravity and back.

“As commercial space programs continue to advance and opportunities to enter space become more and more available, I have always hoped that I could conduct experiments in microgravity,” Fair said. “I am extremely grateful for this opportunity. After years, even decades, of working with astronauts on experiments, I am honored to be at the forefront of researchers conducting their own experiments in space.

Ferl and Paul helped develop an experimental device called the Kennedy Space Center Fixed Tube (KFT) that quickly and safely mixes test materials (in this case, a model plant called Arabidopsis thaliana) and preservative solutions , to “fix” a certain moment in gene expression so researchers can study what happens during different stages of flight. KFT is commonly used on space stations to safely and efficiently handle solutions in microgravity environments.

During the New Shepard flight, Ferl will activate KFT at four different points during the mission: before launch, when microgravity is reached, at the end of the weightlessness period as the vehicle begins its descent, and at touchdown. New Shepard reached its highest point above the Karman Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space (62 miles/100 kilometers). On the ground, Paul and members of the UF Space Plant Laboratory team will receive a message from the flight that will trigger four identical “control” KFTs. After the mission, the team will take all plant samples back to a lab in Gainesville for analysis.

“The successful use of the KFT enables a wide range of biological experiments in suborbital space, because any organism that can be placed in the KFT can be sampled in real time during any phase of flight that scientists astronauts choose,” Fair said.

Blue Origin has not yet announced the full crew or target launch date for Fell Flight. New Shepard launched from the Blue Origin Launch Complex 1 near Van Horn, Texas.

Joseph Case April 19, 2024