A NASA education program will give high school students from across the country the opportunity for their dreams to literally take flight when experiments designed by the students fly on either a Space Shuttle or sub-orbital rocket.

The four Space Shuttle and four rocket experiments were selected in a nationwide competition called the NASA Student Involvement Program (NSIP). NSIP is a national program of five competitions for grades 3 – 12 that link students directly with NASA’s exciting missions of exploration and discovery.

Lynn Marra, NSIP Officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, said, “The flight opportunities portion of this program provides for high school students to take their experiments beyond the classroom and into space. In addition, students work with an experiment throughout its life span – from proposal, fabrication and flight through data analysis.”

The winning entrees were:

Space Shuttle experiments

  • “Mechanical Resonators in Space”-Agoura High School, Agoura, Calif.
  • “Artemia Space Launch Experiment” – DuVal High School, Lanham, Md.
  • “Aeroponics: Food Cultivation in Space” – Glenbrook North High School, Northbrook, Ill.
  • “Laminar Fluid Flow in Microgravity” – The Northwest School, Seattle, Wash.

    Suborbital Rocket experiments

  • “Environment” – Glenbrook North High School
  • “The Effects of High G Forces on Electric Motors” – The Northwest School
  • “Testing for Global Warming and Ozone Depletion Through Space Flight Opportunities” – Laramie Senior High School, Laramie, Wyo.
  • “Sub-orbital Film Radiation Exposure Experiment” – Lafayette High School, Brooklyn, N.Y.

    In addition to flying their experiments, the student teams and an advisor will journey to the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia for one week in June. During the week they will work with NASA engineers and technicians to make the final preparations for flight and see the operations at the country’s oldest established launch range. In addition, rocket experiment students will take part in pre-launch reviews and, weather permitting, view their experiment lofted into space aboard an Orion suborbital rocket.

    -end-

    Note to Editors: Following are the teacher advisors associated with each experiment. They are the contacts for additional information on the experiments.

    Space Shuttle experiments

    “Mechanical Resonators in Space”- Teacher: Dr. Peter Petre

    “Artemia Space Launch Experiment” – Teacher: Carolyn Harden

    “Aeroponics: Food Cultivation in Space” – Teacher: Lynne Zielinski

    “Laminar Fluid Flow in Microgravity” – Teacher: Scott Sterling

    Suborbital Rocket experiments


    “Environment” – Glenbrook North High School — Teacher: Vince Panelli

    “The Effects of High G Forces on Electric Motors” – Teacher: James Hall

    “Testing for Global Warming and Ozone Depletion Through Space Flight Opportunities”

    – Teacher: Pete Vasek

    “Sub-orbital Film Radiation Exposure Experiment” – Teacher: Robert Palestino