Project Title:

Compact Lighting Technology for CELSS Flight Experiment Hardware

12.04-8606A
900963
Compact Lighting Technology for CELSS Flight Experiment Hardware

Abstract:

Lighting requirements for flight experiments in plant growth  vary from very high
photon flux for photosynthesis and productivity to precise, narrow spectral band
control, and/or absolute darkness for photomorphogenic control. Design guidelines
for spacecraft environments require that the lighting systems be compact and efficient.
In this project, a woven fiber optic technology, heretofore utilized primarily for
LCD panel backlighting, will be adapted to the use of higher light intensity and
filtered spectral control in a compact, locker-based unit designed for support of
plant growth experiments in the shuttle mid-deck locker area. The design will integrate
an inert, high-light-transmitting growth container. The state of development of these
individual components is such that an integration of all components will result in
a flight-ready hardware item.
The hardware product of this effort is intended primarily for use by NASA-supported
investigators in development and flight of plant growth experiments. A low-cost version
of the unit may stimulate interest and a market in the segment of the education community
which may have an interest in flight experimentation.
plant growth chambers, fiber optics, in-flight experimentation, PGF-2, PGU