The Astroculture Experiment was designed to evaluate the performance of apparatus for supporting plant growth in space, this will become more important in the future as stays in space become longer. Obviously plants cannot be fed in microgravity in the same manner as on earth, so a system was devised to provide water and nutrients through porous tubes. The tubes were maintained at differential pressures, to provide a proper flow to the roots. Moisture was controlled by a system that humidifies and dehumidifies air without needing a gas/liquid separator. Light-emitting diodes (LED's) were used to provide high levels of light from the limited resources available on the shuttle. The plants that were chosen for the experiment were a variety of potato and the technology behind the experiment shows promise of being used by industry.
One of the most visually interesting experiments was the Drop Physics Module, films shown during the presentation showed a drop of liquid rotating, splitting in two and coming back together. This experiment was used to help further the understanding of Van der Waals forces, which are weak attractive forces between atoms and molecules. Acoustic waves were used to control the drops and the responses were monitored on adjacent video displays.
The Fluid Flow Cell Experiment, used the motion of fluids in microgravity to explain fluid flow in oceans, atmospheres, planets and stars. Large bodies influence fluids with gravity fields that create buoyancy forces that in turn create thermal circulations. By working in microgravity, external gravitational fields are reduced and the motion of the fluid can be studied. Electric charges were applied to the fluid to create buoyancy and temperature and rotation rate were also controlled.
The "most important experiment on the mission" was how the crew referred to Professor Sacco's Zeolite Crystal Growth Experiment. The purpose of the experiment was to establish a level of understanding of zeolite crystallization and growth so as to achieve high yields of large, nearly perfect crystals in space. Zeolites are used in the chemical process industry as filters, catalysts for reaction and adsorbents. The crystals also show potential as a nuclear waste scavenger and are useful as quantum confinement hosts for semiconductor materials. Theoretically, crystals grown in microgravity could be 500 to 1000 times that of crystals grown on earth. This experiment was just one of several included in the "Glovebox" on Columbia. Thirty eight autoclaves were prepared by a team of WPI students, faculty and staff, containing two solutions: one aluminum based and the second silicon based. The autoclaves allowed the fluids to be combined in space so that crystallization could begin.