TEXAS, USA — A University of Florida scientist became the first NASA-funded university researcher to conduct his own experiments in space.
Rob Ferl, a professor for UF's Institue of Food and Agricultural Sciences, suited up alongside his five crewmates to launch into space where he carried experimental plants in specially designed tubes attached to his flight suit that he activated during the flight, according to a news article from UF.
The crew blasted off on the New Shepard from the launch site in West Texas on Thursday. The crew experienced several minutes of weightlessness above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space, before returning to Earth.
Ferl was wearing a bright orange UF hat as he exited the capsule. Afterward, he and fellow UF professor Anna-Lisa Paul prepared the experimental tubes he activated during the flight for their trip back to an on-site lab and later to Gainesville.
“It couldn’t have been a better experience,” Ferl said in the UF article. “There is room for scientists of all sizes, shapes and ages to do this. There is a lot of opportunity in a ride like that.”
The scientist has spent his career studying how living organisms respond to extreme conditions. Ferl and Paul have sent dozens of experiments to space over the last 20 years.
The pair helped design the special tubes used for this mission to quickly and safely mix test materials and preservative solutions, according to the article. This combination "fixes" a moment of gene expression so researchers can later study what was happening at that moment.
Ferl is also the director of the Astraeu Space Insitute at UF and recently chaired a National Academies of Sciences committee. He received funding for this technology test through a NASA grant.
The other members of the crew included a cardiologist, a University of North Carolina senior, a technology company CEO, an entrepreneur and a man who works in real estate and finance.
