This did not happen and it leaves us with a wonderfully simple experiment that has the potential of impacting upon human space travel in the future. This experiment grew out of thoughts of minimizing the power requirements for life support on extended manned space travel to Mars and the other planets. Its been realized for some time that for extended space flight, food and oxygen would need to be grown and recycled. Plants provide food while recycling the byproduct of animal respiration, carbon dioxide, back into breathable oxygen. In addition plants help purify wastewater back into potable drinking water.
Power generators take up precious space and weight on board the spacecraft.
The more power needed for the life support the greater the space and weight requirements of the power generation equipment. Anything that can reduce power consumption will improve the overall mission profile. This experiment illustrates a possible method of reducing the power needed to grow plants on board spacecraft. This experiment is designed to test this hypothesis.