MARION COUNTY, Fla. – Marion County students are reaching beyond the stars as their science experiment prepares to blast off on a SpaceX rocket this summer, according to the school district.
Elementary and high school students in the Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) proposed the winning experiment, which will explore “the effect of microgravity on the amount of ethanol produced by yeast fermentation,” school officials said.
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The microgravity experiment will spend six to eight weeks in orbit once the rocket carrying it launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.
Dr. N.H. Jones Elementary students Anakan Keithan Gopalan and Aarya Jaiden Seevaratnam designed the project with the help of North Marion High School students Jacob Ridinger and Dalton Gentilman, according to district officials.
School officials said once the rocket returns from orbit, students will compare their space bound experiment to their grounded, controlled one.
SSEP is a nationwide pre-college program, part of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education initiative, in which students learn about science, technology, engineering and mathematics through NASA and commercial space travel.
This is the first time Marion County Public Schools has participated in this program, according to the district.
For updates on the mission, click here.