A group of University researchers hopes to learn more about how to make a better pesticide by sending an experiment on a trip into space.

So when the Discovery space shuttle took off on its latest voyage last Thursday, it carried a research project that has been a year in the making.

The Penn State Biomodule, a specially designed mixing device, carried eight samples of a type of microbe, or microscopic organism, into space Thursday. The microbe has been found to produce a toxin that is environmentally safe but deadly to some harmful insects, such as the Colorado potato beetle.

University researchers hope the microbes, which produce the toxin in a crystalline form, will be able to grow larger and perhaps more lethal toxin crystals in microgravity.

Zane Smilowitz, professor of entomology, and William McCarthy, associate professor of entomology, are heading up the experiment. They want to see how microgravity affects the microbe, a patented biological pesticide known as tenebrionis.

"This is a new horizon," Smilowitz said, adding that without the development of the biomodule, the experiment would have been impossible.

Each biomodule consists of eight separate units that feed nutrients to the microbes in a time-release sequence. In total, eight biomodules were aboard the Discovery.

A student was responsible for much of the actual loading of materials into the biomodule. Brian Severyn (graduate-entomology) said even if the experiment yields questionable results, it will still be beneficial as a scientific study.

"My hope for the future is that the public learns there is some positive development from space," he said.

William Wilfinger, director of physiological testing for the Center for Cell Research, said a small glitch last Friday caused the computer readout on the containment unit to malfunction.

"We are unable to look inside to see what's going on," he said, but added that the experiment is self-contained and should regulate itself until the shuttle lands Friday.

The University will also send another experiment into space this March aboard the space shuttle Columbia, Wilfinger said.

Barbara Hale, associate researcher with the Center for Cell Research, which helped develop the experiment and acted as a liaison between NASA and the University, said although this is the fourth time the University has sent an experiment into space aboard the shuttle, excitement is high.

"We're always excited here at the center when one of our payloads goes up," she said.