When that mission was delayed, a disappointed Brewer and family vacationed a few days and returned home to other obligations.
Brewer's interest in the liftoff was vested -- he spent the last four years developing an experiment that would have flown on the 10-day mission. And when the shuttle did take off Friday, Brewer's experiment was on board, but this time around, he couldn't be there.
"Yeah, I was disappointed," Brewer said of the mission delay. "(But) I figured it would happen."
Brewer's Root Growth in Space experiment (RGIS) is one of four experiments originating from the University of Alabama in Huntsville that are on board the shuttle now.
The experiments are loaded into Get-Away-Special Canister (GAS-CAN) 503, a 192-pound payload sponsored by the UAH chapter of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS).
The 15-year-old Brewer worked with graduate students at UAH to rebuild hardware used on a previous shuttle mission in an Alabama Space and Rocket Center-sponsored experiment. Funds for the experiment came from a $30,000 Marshal Space Flight Center grant that paid for RGIS and another experiment in GAS-CAN 503.
Brewer's RGIS experiment will study the effects of microgravity on the early stages of germination in several seed types. Specifically, the experiment will look at the production of gases during germination and the development and distribution of chemicals and hormones affecting root growth.
Philip Nerren, the UAH research associate who oversaw this experiment, said the primary objective of RGIS was to provide experience in what it takes to research a project and design an experiment.
Brewer's involvement with RGIS began just before he entered the sixth grade when he contacted Nerren about help with a science project. Nerren invited Brewer to join in the UAH experiments. Brewer served as principal investigator for RGIS, receiving help along the way from Nerren and other graduate students.
In terms of research, RGIS has served its purpose for Brewer and other students -- no matter what the outcome. But Nerren added that the experiment also could lead to new information about how to use plants in space.
"The root senses gravity somehow," Nerren said. "Researchers are trying to determine how the root detects gravity. They are trying to look more in-depth at how to manipulate the root. (Dwight) has been doing those kinds of experiments."
Brewer said he already expects the roots in his experiment to form in a ball in the absence of grabity. He said he hopes to determine what chemical reactions occurred and the location of calcium ions. That information could help with plant development in scientific endeavors like the space station.
"Thw whole point of the station is microgravity," Brewer said. "If you used magnets to control plant growth, plants can be used for oxygen production, food production and also to purify water."
