BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Does a rose in space smell as sweet?
While NASA kept a wary eye on the remnants of Hurricane Mitch, which might affect a Saturday landing in Florida, shuttle astronaut John Glenn kept himself busy Wednesday with a perfume experiment.
Among its 83 experiments, Discovery is growing some miniature roses in orbit in an experiment sponsored by International Flavors and Fragrances, the giant New York company that supplies many of the scents used in consumer products.
The company wants to know whether zero gravity actually changes the essential oils, or the scent-making compounds, produced by the rose. If it does, and the oils smell nice, the public could see a space perfume hit the market as soon as next year, a company spokeswoman said.
While it's easy to sniff at the idea of space perfume, the science behind the concept is serious, said Dr. Norman Draeger of the University of Wisconsin, principal investigator for the
Astroculture experiments aboard Discovery.
ŒŒWe already know from past flights that some plant processes change dramatically in space," Dr. Draeger said. ŒŒFor example we know that vegetable oil droplets produced by plants in orbit are five
to 20 times larger than those produced on Earth."
The Discovery flight is the first to test an essential oil, which is more complex than vegetable oils.
ŒŒThe human body is extremely sensitive to taste and smells. A very subtle change in an essential oil could have a dramatic difference in how something tastes or smells," Dr. Draeger said.
So if the space rose does produce a unique and marketable scent, would a company have to launch a rose farm in space to make the perfume?
No. The goal is to analyze the molecular structure of the new essential oil, then try to duplicate it in an Earth-based laboratory, Dr. Draeger said.
Beyond the rose test, NASA officials said Wednesday the mission continues to go well.
A new main computer for the Hubble Space Telescope plus an improved data recorder and a super-cooling refrigeration unit (that cools to minus 330 degrees Fahrenheit) have survived their space radiation exposure tests. The new equipment will be installed in 2000.
Meanwhile, a balance disorder test involving two oyster toadfish, run primarily by Japanese crew member Chiaki Mukai, also has been going well.
Landing is still set for noon Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center. The latest weather forecasts predict the remnants of deadly Hurricane Mitch, now a tropical storm moving east in the Gulf of Mexico, will cross Florida today.
There s a chance of high crosswinds on landing day, but the storm is expected to be out of the area by Saturday morning.
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