JONESBORO — A team of Arkansas State University students calling themselves the A-State Science Support System, was recently selected by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement as one of five in the country to be carried out in 2022 on the International Space Station.
The Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science (SPOCS) project will be funded with a $20,000 NASA grant.
Their proposal is described as an experiment to discover the ability of wax worms to degrade plastics in space. Knowledge gained through the ISS experiment could provide the answers for a more sustainable environment on Earth and future, long-term space travel.
The SPOCS team includes Benjamin Whitfield of Little Rock, an electrical engineering major and team leader; Landon Perdue of Brookland, Mason Rhodes of Benton and Jacob Oster of Bay, who are mechanical engineering majors; and Katherine Willis of Blue Springs, Mo., Claire Greene of Conway and Hannah Seats of Brookland, who are biological sciences majors.
Some time ago, Dr. Tom Risch, vice provost for research and technology transfer, encouraged Shea Harris, Arkansas Biosciences Institute outreach director, and Dr. Maureen Dolan, associate professor of molecular biology and director of the biotechnology program, to form and mentor a group of student scientists to develop a SPOCS proposal.
Rebecca Oliver, director of the Honors College, helped recruit a group of sophomore honors students majoring in engineering and biology to write the proposal.
As Citizen Science partners, the team chose the Nettleton STEAM School students, who by coincidence were talking to two of the ISS astronauts on the same day they were making the SPOCS presentation. The STEAM students in third through sixth grade will perform baseline Earth-gravity controlled experiments to compare with A-State ISS experiments.
While the team developed its proposal, members did not get access to the specifications of the required container for the space station until they became a finalist in the selection process.
Now they know, the container is 10 by 10 by 15 centimeters, or about 91.5 cubic inches, so making the science payload fit in such a small space is part of their challenge. The experiment has to be completely automated; the ISS astronauts will not interact with it.
The next step for the team will be a virtual kickoff meeting on Jan. 20 where they will review NASA’s timelines and milestones for the project, along with meeting mission managers and NASA mentors.
