University of Louisiana Research

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Times-Picayune Coleman Warner

Science experiments took years to plan

University of Louisiana professor Karl Hasenstein was part of a select group of scientists bused to the runway of Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Saturday, waiting anxiously to whisk away specimens from a biology experiment tended by Columbia's astronauts.

The shuttle's precisely set landing time arrived, then passed. The scientists were escorted back to their buses, fearing the worst. Confirmation came minutes later.

The impact was felt at two levels.

"Personally, it's difficult to put into words. I knew the crew and I worked with them, and so this was of course pretty hard," said Hasenstein, a German native who came to Lafayette in 1988. "Equally important for me is the loss of science for which we have worked for almost 10 years, starting with the process of proposal writing."

Hasenstein's test of how gravity loss affects flax roots was one of two Louisiana research projects carried by Columbia.

Another, directed by Khalid Alshibli, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Southern University and Louisiana State University, explored how low-gravity conditions affect soil strength. In all, about 80 experiments were on the flight.

Apart from the human tragedy, the accident brought major setbacks for many researchers who typically spend years trying to persuade NASA to carry experiments into space.

Hasenstein obtained limited data and video images from his experiment before the accident, but not enough.

"Our science return was essentially zero," he said. "Right now, I have nothing but hopes that NASA is going to fly this mission again. I'm not the only one in this position. There are about 80 people in the same boat. If and when it's going to happen, we don't know."

Trying to develop a space biology specialty at ULL, Hasenstein won NASA's blessing for his experiment in 1995. A water-delivery system for the equipment was tested in a 2000 shuttle flight.

University of Louisiana System President Sally Clausen, who oversees ULL, said the project offers a dash of prestige to a university not often associated with advanced research.

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Sally Clausen

"I want to commend The Times-Picayune for its thorough coverage of higher education issues. However, I must take issue with a recent article ("Projects doomed along with shuttle," Feb. 5) that described ground-breaking research by University of Louisiana at La. biologist Karl Hasenstein and the loss of his research in the space shuttle Columbia tragedy.

We are immensely proud of the accomplishments of Dr. Hasenstein, but we are concerned that your article gave the impression that his level of research is somehow uncommon at UL. Nothing could be further from the truth...."

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[Turner]

Whole lotta crawfishing going on.