New Student Experiments Reach ISS on SpaceX CRS-14
Media Credit: NASA
For the SpaceX CRS-14 mission, a Dragon capsule launched on April 2 and berthed with the International Space Station on April 4. The capsule carried 5,836 pounds (2,647 kilograms) of food, experiments and hardware, including 31 experiments designed by middle and high school students!
Launching your own experiment to the ISSInternational Space Station is easier than you might think! Space Station Explorers has several programs that send students’ science to space, including DreamUp, Genes in Space, Go For Launch!, Guardians of the Galaxy Space Station Challenge, National Design Challenge, Quest for Space, the Space Crystal Prize, the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP), and the Zero Robotics competition.
Enjoy this recap of the launch day, as experienced by the student researchers.
1. April 2, 2018 was a beautiful Florida day with clear skies and gentle winds—a great day for a rocket launch!
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS(Abbreviation: CASIS™) The nonprofit organization that manages the ISS National Lab, which receives at least 50 percent of the U.S. research allocation on the International Space Station to facilitate research that benefits humanity (NASA manages the other 50% and focuses on research for space exploration purposes).
2. The Visitor Complex was calm in the morning, but traffic quickly intensified as thousands of visitors arrived to view the launch.
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
Go for Launch!< a> program.” width=”768″ height=”512″>3. Student teams presented their projects to the public on a stage surrounded by Journey to Mars exhibits. This team from Kentucky is made up of the top-scoring students from multiple schools that participated in the Go for Launch! program.
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment., made possible through their schools partnership with Quest Institute< a>.” width=”768″ height=”1046″>4. Jaylene Baltazar and Mihir Kasmalkar from Valley Christian High School were excited to present their experiments on plant germination and growth in microgravity, made possible through their school’s partnership with Quest Institute.
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
Go For Launch!< a> program; the winners of the Space Crystal Prize< a> (three with matching T shirts); and two students from Valley Christian High School, Mihir Kasmalkar (center) and Jaylene Baltazar (right).” width=”768″ height=”512″>5. Four student teams did stage presentations: a multi-school team from Kentucky (left four) that participated in the Go For Launch! program; the winners of the Space Crystal Prize (three with matching T-shirts); and two students from Valley Christian High School, Mihir Kasmalkar (center) and Jaylene Baltazar (right).
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
6. After their stage presentations, the students caught a bus to the Apollo/Saturn V center to enjoy the exhibits and set up their posters.
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
Go For Launch!< a>, the Space Crystal Prize< a>, Quest for Space< a>, and Quest Institute< a>s partnerships with specific schools. Learn more< a> about how you can send science to space!” width=”768″ height=”512″>7. Several programs help students design and launch experiments to the ISS. The programs that sent educational payloads on the SpaceX CRS-14 mission include Go For Launch!, the Space Crystal Prize, Quest for Space, and Quest Institute’s partnerships with specific schools. Learn more about how you can send science to space!
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
Space Crystal Prize< a>: the opportunity to design a crystal growing experiment for the ISS. The winning students designed their own mission patch and printed it on T shirts for their whole group.” width=”768″ height=”510″>8. The top award for the 2017 Wisconsin Crystal Growing Competition was the Space Crystal Prize: the opportunity to design a crystal growing experiment for the ISS. The winning students designed their own mission patch and printed it on T-shirts for their whole group.
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
Quest for Space< a> program receive devices similar to one onboard the ISS. Darius Deac showed how fourth graders at Valley Christian Elementary School programmed their classroom device to turn a lightbulb on and off and measure temperatures of light and dark colored surfaces. Once they got their code working in the classroom, they uploaded it to the device onboard the ISS.” width=”768″ height=”512″>9. Twenty-four student projects used a programmable multipurpose experiment platform recently developed by Quest Institute for Quality Education. Classrooms participating in the Quest for Space program receive devices similar to one onboard the ISS. Darius Deac showed how fourth graders at Valley Christian Elementary School programmed their classroom device to turn a lightbulb on and off and measure temperatures of light- and dark-colored surfaces. Once they got their code working in the classroom, they uploaded it to the device onboard the ISS.
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
Quest for Space< a> program. Sophomore Guy Worley presented a poster about an experiment on natural air convection, which is noticeably different in microgravity because denser air doesnt sink the way it does on Earth. The most exciting part of working on the project was furthering my knowledge of coding, he said. It was awesome getting to watch the rocket launch. My school started yelling the countdown when it got down to 10 seconds till launch!” width=”768″ height=”512″>10. Calvary Christian School also participated in the Quest for Space program. Sophomore Guy Worley presented a poster about an experiment on natural air convection, which is noticeably different in microgravity because denser air doesn’t sink the way it does on Earth. “The most exciting part of working on the project was furthering my knowledge of coding,” he said. “It was awesome getting to watch the rocket launch. My school started yelling the countdown when it got down to 10 seconds till launch!”
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
Quest for Space< a> project with Dan Saldana, Director of ISS and Satellite Programs at Valley Christian Schools Applied Math Science Engineering (AMSE) Institute. They designed a heat conduction experiment on their classroom device by connecting sensors and electronic components to a LEGO Mindstorms EV3< a> programmable brick. It was extremely exciting to work with others and learn from them as we put many parts together to form a complete product, said Ben. It was an amazing feeling to watch something we worked on be launched into orbit!” width=”768″ height=”512″>11. James Brewster and Ben Whitted, also from Calvary Christian School, talked about their Quest for Space project with Dan Saldana, Director of ISS and Satellite Programs at Valley Christian Schools’ Applied Math-Science-Engineering (AMSE) Institute. They designed a heat conduction experiment on their classroom device by connecting sensors and electronic components to a LEGO Mindstorms EV3 programmable brick. “It was extremely exciting to work with others and learn from them as we put many parts together to form a complete product,” said Ben. “It was an amazing feeling to watch something we worked on be launched into orbit!”
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
Quest Institute< a> to design and build custom hardware with electronically controlled air and water pumps, LED lights, an automated camera, and materials to anchor and deliver nutrients to the plants.” width=”768″ height=”512″>12. Jaylene Baltazar from Valley Christian High School presented her team’s experiment that looks at how BAM-FX nutrient solution affects plant growth on Earth and in microgravity. The high school students worked with Quest Institute to design and build custom hardware with electronically controlled air and water pumps, LED lights, an automated camera, and materials to anchor and deliver nutrients to the plants.
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
13. The winning students from the Wisconsin Crystal Growing Competition put science and art side by side, presenting one poster about their crystal growth experiments and another about the mission patch they designed. To develop their award-winning project, seventh-grader Payton VanDomelen (center) said the team “used the engineering design process and the scientific method.”
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
Quest Institute< a>. The students designed a compact electromagnet to expose plants to changing electric fields. The experience inspired Mihir to envision himself in an engineering career. I learned how to think critically and solve problems, he said. The launch was awesome!” width=”768″ height=”512″>14. Mihir Kasmalkar from Valley Christian High School presented another plant growth experiment with specialized hardware that his team built in collaboration with Quest Institute. The students designed a compact electromagnet to expose plants to changing electric fields. The experience inspired Mihir to envision himself in an engineering career. “I learned how to think critically and solve problems,” he said. “The launch was awesome!”
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
Middle and high school students from Kentucky designed an experiment to study how microgravity affects a type of healthy bacteria found in yogurt.
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
16. As the launch window neared, students and their mentors, families, and friends gathered on the bleachers at the Banana Creek viewing area next to the Apollo/Saturn V building. An announcer invited each team to stand for applause.
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
National Design Challenge< a> with a proposal to study the folding of proteins related to Alzheimers disease on Earth and in microgravity. Working with faculty and students at Calumet College< a>, these high school juniors built a miniaturized fluorescence spectrometer with 3D printed parts of their own design. The whole experiment fits in a box that is barely larger than a soda can! CASIS< a> and the Boy Scouts of America Pathway to Adventure Council< a> supported the project.” width=”768″ height=”512″>17. For Connor Gregg and Merrick Jakelski, this launch was the culmination of two and a half years of work. Their team competed in the National Design Challenge with a proposal to study the folding of proteins related to Alzheimer’s disease on Earth and in microgravity. Working with faculty and students at Calumet College, these high school juniors built a miniaturized fluorescence spectrometer with 3D-printed parts of their own design. The whole experiment fits in a box that is barely larger than a soda can! CASIS and the Boy Scouts of America Pathway to Adventure Council supported the project.
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
SpaceX< a>s ability to recover, refurbish, and reuse< a> major components: the Dragon had previously flown on CRS 8 (April 2016) and the rockets first stage had flown on CRS 12 (August 2017).” width=”768″ height=”512″>18. At 4:30 pm, the Falcon 9 rocket roared upward in a flawless launch! Within ten minutes, the Dragon capsule had reached its orbital speed of 17,000 miles per hour. This launch demonstrated SpaceX‘s ability to recover, refurbish, and reuse major components: the Dragon had previously flown on CRS-8 (April 2016) and the rocket’s first stage had flown on CRS-12 (August 2017).
Media Credit: NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex< a>.” width=”768″ height=”512″>19. After the launch, the student researchers and their guests had time to explore the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Media Credit: Nathan Adams, CASIS
20. On April 4, the Dragon capsule berthed with the Harmony module’s Earth-facing port, as shown in this artist’s rendering.
Media Credit: NASA
NASA Astronaut and Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold< a> started the first of two student experiments< a> that won the 2017 Genes in SpaceAn annual national research competition for students in grades 7 through 12 to design pioneering biotechnology experiments that are conducted by astronauts on the space station. The program is funded by Boeing and miniPCR bio and supported by the ISS National Laboratory® and New England BioLabs.< a> competition. The Genes in Space winners traveled to Florida to attend the launch, but they didnt get to watch it from the VIP location as planned. With their bus stuck in a four hour traffic jam, they watched the launch from the highway!” width=”768″ height=”512″>21. On April 11, NASA Astronaut and Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold started the first of two student experiments that won the 2017 Genes in Space competition. The Genes in Space winners traveled to Florida to attend the launch, but they didn’t get to watch it from the VIP location as planned. With their bus stuck in a four-hour traffic jam, they watched the launch from the highway!
Media Credit: NASA