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TITLE: | NASA's Space Solar Power Project: Plant Response To Microwave Radiation |
PREPARED FOR: | NASA's Space Solar Power Program |
WRITER: | Jay Skiles, NASA Ames Research Center |
PRODUCER: | J. W. Skiles, Ph.D., NASA Ames Research Center |
DRAFT: | 7 |
DATE: | May 3, 2002 |
FADE IN:
26. misc. vegetation in park, different from 25 above **condensed plant-response video starts here** | Not much is known about how plants, animals and humans will respond to continuos microwave exposure. |
27. graphic PURPOSE OF EXPERIMENT | Our experiment will show how an important plant species will respond to continuous exposure to microwaves. |
28. graphic NO DIFFERENCE CONTROL AND TEST PLANTS | Our hypothesis is that plants exposed to microwaves will be no different from those plants that are not exposed to microwaves. |
29. graphic person talking on cell phone | The microwaves are generated by a device something like that in your cell phone. |
30. shot of VCO un-mounted with quarter for scale | This microwave generation device is called a voltage-control crystal oscillator or "V C O". |
31. shot of mounted VCO | Microwaves, at 2.45 Gigahertz and at 1 to 10 milli-watts per square centimeter intensity, are generated in the oscillator . . . (beat) |
32. shot of cable w/sma | pass through a short cable . . . (beat) |
33. shot of emitter horn | and are broadcast over the growing plants by the antenna or emitter horn. |
34. shot of reflector from emitter horn POV | The microwaves are then bounced off the adjustable reflector . . . (beat) |
35. view of large tray in lab where plants are growing | thus exposing the TEST PLANTS to the microwaves. |
36. view of the tray from the reflector POV | Note that the plants growing behind the metal sheet or shield, the CONTROL PLANTS, do not receive any microwave exposure. |
37. view of entire experimental setup | The experiment is designed so that the only variable to which the plants are subjected is microwave exposure. |
38. graphic PLANTS | A plant representative of important agronomic species is alfalfa. |
39. person lugging bag of potting mix to lab from storage area | The plants are grown in a potting mix in plastic pots. |
40. shot of pots filled w/ soil | A measured amount of soil is placed in each pot. |
41. person weighing seeds | A measured amount of alfalfa seed is placed in each pot. |
42. person using surgical tubing to water the plants in the growth tray | And the soil is moistened. |
43. several frames of the light rack showing florescent tubes and light bulbs | The light necessary for photosynthesis is supplied by an overhead rack of fluorescent tubes and several incandescent light bulbs. |
44. person in lab coat bending over the plants | To test the hypothesis, precise measurements are taken of the control and experimental plants. |
45. person in lab coat using the portable gas exchange LDC4 device | Variables measured include gas exchange. |
46. person using the SPAD meter | Another variable is leaf chlorophyll concentration. |
47. person taking measurements of plants | Also measured are gross plant variables such as stem length, internodal distance, and overall vigor. |
48. person watering plants; outside shot, park | These experiments are ongoing and will be expanded to include mixes of plants and growth of plants from seeds whose pro-gen-I-tors were exposed to this same level of microwave frequency and intensity. |
49. outside shot, park (different from 48 above) | These studies will help determine whether plants can grow in an environment of sustained microwave illumination. |
FADE OUT:
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