FLORIDA : Space Shuttle Crew Tests Pine Saplings

The crew of the space shuttle Columbia gingerly bent pine saplings in orbit to see whether trees try to straighten themselves in a place where there’s no up or down. Astronaut Susan Helms, who’s in charge of the science experiments aboard Columbia, bent the 6-inch saplings 90 degrees. The crew will observe the 20 seedlings for the next two weeks. Such pine trees, when crooked, try to straighten themselves on Earth and produce an inferior wood in the process. Researchers want to see whether this same type of wood is produced in weightlessness.