Students from across the country received an extra dose of holiday cheer this Christmas with the successful delivery of their experiment samples to the International Space Station.
Twenty tiny experiment samples were delivered to the Station on December 25 aboard a Russian Progress supply ship. The experiment samples are from 11 schools and organizations representing students in elementary through high school. Eight of these schools and organizations also flew experiments on the Space Shuttle Columbia’s last mission in 2003.
The schools and organizations participating in the experiments are:
– Central Park Middle School, Scotia, New York
– J.M. Bailey School, Bayonne, New Jersey
– The Mott Hall School, New York, New York
– American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York
– Shoshone-Bannack High School, Pocatello, Idaho
– Bishop Borgess High School, Dearborne Heights, Michigan
– Ogdensburg Public School, Ogdensburg, New Jersey
– East Norriton Middle School, Norristown, Pennsylvania
– Shady Side Elementary School, West River, Maryland
– Columbus High School, Columbus, Georgia
– Walkersville Christian Family School, Stockton, Maryland
The students are flying a variety of materials and seeds in 20 clear vials with lids. Each vial is wrapped in two vacuum bags that were then placed in the Student Experiment Module Satchel carrier. The experiments were compact enough that they took up very little room in the Progress spacecraft, which carried crucial supplies to the Expedition 10 crew, Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov.
The experiment samples will be returned to Earth on a future Space Shuttle flight. After receiving the space-flown samples, the students will be able to compare them to ground samples.
For information about NASA education flight programs visit:
http://education.nasa.gov/divisions/flightprojoffice/overview/index.html
For information about NASA education programs visit:
http://education.nasa.gov