Colorado Springs university experiment launches to the ISS | Education

Lovejoy is the technical director of PPSC and said that in addition to the financial aid, she and her campus also provided instructional guidance and resources, while UCCS provided students with the labs and equipment needed for testing.

Developed by three current UCCS students and a PPSC alum, the experiment will specifically monitor the formation of calcium sulfate crystals in microgravity. The chemicals and water that form the crystals are taken to the space station, which is 400 kilometers above the Earth’s surface and is monitored by astronauts at a speed of 7.2 kilometers per second for two to four weeks.

Meanwhile, on Earth, the students will monitor their own ground-controlled crystal growth to measure the differences microgravity has on their formation.

Davis, an aerospace major, explained that numerous variables, such as Earth’s gravity, affect the chemical’s pressure and crystallization.

“So what we want to see (is), ‘Let’s take gravity out of this equation.’” he said. ‘How will it form that chain? What will it look like?’

Calcium phosphate is commonly used in products ranging from building materials such as drywall and plaster to fertilizers. Although the experiment is simple in design, it could potentially provide breakthroughs in the process of food production in space.

Lovejoy explained that as human exploration in space and on other planets is expected to increase, experiments like these could lead to solutions for growing food beyond Earth.

“If we want to send people to space, they’re going to have to know how to grow food and they’re going to have to be efficient,” she said. “So finding ways to maximize growth potential… that’s kind of where it fits into that space. Because we can’t just ship everything everywhere once we get there.”

The experiment was one of three selected from 10 local teams drawn from the two schools and later selected as one of the final 37 by the program, which is under the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space. Education internationally.

The program also offered local K-12 students the opportunity to design a mission patch for the flight. The patch will be sent into space together with the experiment.

After multiple delays, the launch is scheduled for Monday from NASA’s famed Kennedy Space Center, where students and campus faculty involved in the development will be on hand to watch the launch.

The two schools are already planning to participate in next year’s experiment cycle, with experiment proposals due Nov. 10, and will be joined by other schools in the state, including the Colorado School of Mines.

The cooperation and coordination between all parties was repeatedly mentioned as essential to literally get this year’s project off the ground.

“I don’t think we (the schools) could have done this alone,” Lovejoy said. “And we have such a great partnership with our engineering majors… and even getting younger kids involved in the art competition really brings awareness to the fact that this is possible here in Colorado Springs.”