Tomatosphere wins the 2007 CASI Alouette Award
The Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (CASI) is a nonprofit scientific and
technical organization for people interested in aeronautics, space and remote sensing
and associated technologies, now in its 53rd year of service to members and the broader
Canadian public.
CASI has a network of Branches located in major cities across Canada. Each has a
program of regular meetings, invited speakers, site visits and social events.
CASI holds conferences, workshops and symposia each year that attract delegates from
within Canada and around the world. By means of its annual Senior Awards and many
other activities, CASI fulfils its commitment to the recognition and celebration of the
achievements of outstanding Canadians.
The Alouette is an award introduced to recognize an outstanding contribution to
advancement in Canadian space technology, application, science or engineering. It may
be awarded to an individual, to a group, an organization or group of organizations, as
appropriate to the nature of the contribution.
The terms are:
Tomatosphere Project Team
The Canadian sponsored Tomatosphere Project, under the direction of its chief scientist,
Dr. Michael Dixon and CSA astronaut, Dr. Robert Thirsk is the recipient of the 2007
CASI Alouette Award. The Tomatosphere Project, intended to involve 10,000 students,
enjoyed outstanding success and reached over 500,000 children in Canada representing
7,405 classrooms.
In the initial stages of engagement, tomato seeds were exposed to three different
environments: a simulated Martian environment at the NASAKennedy Space Center; a
simulated Martian greenhouse environment at the University of Guelph; and the Earth
environment, which was the control. The children were asked to report on the vigor of
plant growth as well as the germination rates for the three types of seeds. In addition,
the Tomatosphere project sent a similar number of seeds to the cold and dry
environment on Devon Island in northern Canada, where NASA and the Canadian
Space Agency collaborate on a variety of Mars analog studies and adaptations to
remote, harsh climates.
In 2006, two types of seeds were germinated and evaluated by the participants one a
control group and another group spent 19 months on board the International Space
Station. The Tomatosphere project responds admirably to the urgent need for
education of our youth in the unique and challenging areas of space life sciences.
Tomatosphere is sponsored by:
Text borrowed from the CASI Award press release
Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility | Ontario Agricultural College
University of Guelph | Guelph | Ontario | Canada | N1G2W1
PHONE: 519.824.4120 EXT 52909
FAX: 519.837.0442
info@ces.uoguelph.ca
