Einstein, Highland Terrace experiments chosen as finalists for space travel

Three Shoreline student experiments--two from Einstein Middle School and one from Highland Terrace Elementary--have been selected as finalists to participate in Mission Two to the International Space Station through the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP). One of the student experiment finalists will be chosen to be performed on the International Space Station this fall.

The Student Spaceflight Experiment is a national educational program undertaken by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in partnership with NanoRacks, LLC. 

Shoreline is one of only 11 districts nationwide to be chosen for this program.

The Spaceflight Program uses a commercial spaceflight payload, which will contain the student experiments, and will be placed aboard ferry vehicles for transfer to the International Space Station. The student experiment flight opportunity is enabled through NanoRacks LLC, which is in partnership with NASA under a formal Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a national laboratory.

All Einstein eighth graders and Highland Terrace sixth graders participated in a competition in which they worked in teams to design an experiment that answers the question, "What phenomenon associated with a physical, chemical, or biological system would I like to explore with gravity turned off for a period of time?"

A committee of science professionals from the community evaluated the proposals and selected three to be sent to the National Center for Earth and Space Science for the final evaluation where one proposal will be selected. Then the students will prepare the winning proposal in the specially designed NanoRack Mini-lab kit and send to Houston for launch.

The finalists are:

Einstein Middle School finalists
Photo courtesy Shoreline Schools

Structural Changes of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Lipid A in Microgravity

Einstein Middle School students Lisa Jensen, Julia Manfredini, Francisca Ritoch and Joely Shepard

Structural changes of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Lipid A in microgravity. This is important because if the lipid A structure is modified, perfectly healthy astronauts could be vulnerable to a PA bacterial infection.

Einstein Middle School finalists
(not pictured, Brianna Prosch)
Photo courtesy Shoreline Schools

Fluid Dynamics in Microgravity

Einstein Middle School students Connor Austin, Yann Dardonville, Noah Hoppis and Brianna Prosch

Testing the effect of microgravity on the surface tension of fluids with different densities, specifically, oils that can be refined into polymers and fuels for space travel.

Highland Terrace Elementary finalists
Photo courtesy Shoreline Schools

Crystal growth and impurities microgravity

Highland Terrace Elementary students Aden Helland, Matthew McMillan, Tuguldur Myagmarsuren, Jack Parkinson and Dylan Probizanski.

Our question is if crystals grown in microgravity will pick up impurities. This would be important because of the need to fabricate pure, defect-free single crystals for their use as semi-and superconductors.

The Einstein teachers are Ellen Smith, Mary Thurber and Ryan Paulhamus and the Highland Terrace teachers are Peggy Nordwall and Dennis Griner.

In addition, several middle school and elementary school students designed a flight patch to accompany the experiment in space. Patches designed by Carly Krantz of Highland Terrace and Lauren Cook of Einstein were selected to fly with Mission 2 to the International Space Station this fall.

This experience for these young students and staff and was made possible by the support of the Shoreline Community, including the Shoreline Public Schools Foundation, the Knossos Foundation, the Wong family, Tiia-Mai Redditt, Einstein PTSA and Highland Terrace PTSA.

Parents and community members with expertise in science and research mentored students with their proposals or participated on the evaluation committee. For more information about this learning opportunity, see the program's website.