TICTOC Pouring and Planting

Dr. Arko Bakshi, a research associate with the Department of Botany at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, adds nutrient gel to Target Veggie Chambers, or TVCs, inside a laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 28, 2021. Bakshi waited until the gel solidified and then planted cotton seeds in it as part of the Targeting Improved Cotton Through Orbital Cultivation (TICTOC) experiment, which will launch to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s 22nd commercial resupply services mission. TICTOC will investigate how environmental factors and genes control development of roots in the absence of gravity. Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule is scheduled for 1:29 p.m. EDT Thursday, June 3, 2021, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.