As a kid who loves space and science, this has to be the coolest thing ever.
An experiment created by a group of STEM students from Sault Ste Marie is set to head to the International Space Station at the end of 2023.
As reported by 9and10news.com, a group of six students, both middle and high school-aged, attended a camp last year hosted by Higher Orbitz, a non-profit founded by Michelle Lucas who worked for NASA for 11 years.
The three-day, Go For Launch camp is meant to encourage kids to get more excited and become more involved with STEM.
So, What's Going to Space?
I will do my best to explain this as a non-scientist. But, the experiment involved cellular respiration yeast which is used to study growth and regulation.
Apparently, the process that occurs in a yeast cell is similar to what would happen in a human or animal cell. It sounds like an easy way to test a hypothesis without causing any harm to something that is living.
The students' experiment focused on growing cellular respiration using the above-mentioned yeast while in space. Using Bermuda grass, they want to study if life (represented by the yeast) can be maintained in space using only grass.
As I said, I'm no scientist. But, that sounds pretty amazing.
And the judges agreed. The experiment created by Team Space Shell 6, as they named themselves, will be launching into space and heading for the I.S.S. at the end of this year.
While the kids created the experiment, they won't have anything to do with the actual launch. Instead, NASA teams will put the experiment together and make sure it's ready for its journey.
From there, the experiment will stay on the International Space Station for 30 days. Who knows? These kids may have just unlocked a new way to sustain life in space.
Read more about other experiments at the International Space Station here.
Is your child interested in space? Make sure to feed that curiosity at these Michigan planetariums:
Go Star Gazing at These 5 Michigan Planetariums
5 Michigan Colleges That Offer Free Tuition
More From WBCKFM
