Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC-Universidad de Granada, Facultad de Ciencias, E-18071 Granada, Spain.
Langmuir. 2011 Apr 5;27(7):3294-300. doi: 10.1021/la104193q. Epub 2011 Mar 10.
We studied the growth of metal-ion silicate chemical gardens under Earth gravity (1 g) and microgravity (μg) conditions. Identical sets of reaction chambers from an automated system (the Silicate Garden Habitat or SGHab) were used in both cases. The μg experiment was performed on board the International Space Station (ISS) within a temperature-controlled setup that provided still and video images of the experiment downlinked to the ground. Calcium chloride, manganese chloride, cobalt chloride, and nickel sulfate were used as seed salts in sodium silicate solutions of several concentrations. The formation and growth of osmotic envelopes and microtubes was much slower under μg conditions. In 1 g, buoyancy forces caused tubes to grow upward, whereas a random orientation for tube growth was found under μg conditions.
我们研究了在地球重力（1g）和微重力（μg）条件下金属离子硅酸盐化学花园的生长情况。在这两种情况下，都使用了来自自动化系统（硅酸盐花园栖息地或 SGHab）的相同反应室。μg 实验是在国际空间站（ISS）内进行的，在一个温度可控的设置中，该设置提供了实验的静态和视频图像，并向下传输到地面。氯化钙、氯化锰、氯化钴和硫酸镍被用作几种浓度的硅酸钠溶液中的种子盐。在μg 条件下，渗透压囊泡和微管的形成和生长要慢得多。在 1g 条件下，浮力使管向上生长，而在μg 条件下则发现管生长的方向是随机的。
