[photo courtesy of NASA]
In 2027 the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) will send a student-developed experiment to space, via the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP): helping student-designed microgravity experiments get tested at the International Space Station (ISS). Funding for UNK’s participation is provided by Nebraska EPSCoR, with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
“The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program presents a pretty unique opportunity for our students,” said Joel Berrier, an associate professor and chair of UNK’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. “Not only can they design an experiment that will actually be flown to the International Space Station, but they also get to experience what the professional research process looks like, including writing a full proposal and having it evaluated by a review panel.”
In the year ahead, UNK will conduct an open campus competition for student teams to generate project ideas. Faculty members plan to recruit participants through academic programs and student organizations in fields such as physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry and health sciences.
A panel of UNK faculty members will review the ideas and select three finalists. Those proposals will then advance to a national review process, where one experiment will ultimately be chosen to represent UNK aboard the International Space Station. UNK art and design students will also create mission patch designs that accompany the university's experiment into space and return as certified flown artifacts.
The SSEP participants’ experiments will travel to the ISS via a SpaceX rocket. Upon arrival at the space station, the research will be conducted by astronauts in a four-to-six week span before the project and data return to Earth for analysis.
Following the mission, students involved in the UNK project will continue their research by analyzing the returned data. They will be invited to present their findings during a national conference at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
SSEP started in 2010 and engages students in authentic scientific research by challenging them to develop experiments that can be conducted in a weightless environment. Only about 30 to 35 schools, colleges and universities participate in the program each year, and UNK has never been involved before, said Berrier.
“(SSEP participation) presents a new way for us to provide experiential learning for students,” Berrier said. “Creating something that will actually go into space is an extremely rare opportunity.” It comes during the final years of the International Space Station, which NASA plans to retire at the end of the decade. ###