91探花

A research experiment designed by 91探花 undergraduate students is currently at the International Space Station (ISS).

The research has provided incredible opportunities for the students, including allowing them to watch the launch of the rocket that took their experiment into outer space on Nov. 4.

鈥淲e watched the launch from the Banana Creek viewing area at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex,鈥� said OHIO student Nathan Smith, who is field ecology major in the College of Arts and Sciences. 鈥淚t was a spectacular sight to witness, as someone who has never seen a rocket launch live. It was incredible, so much time and energy had gone into the experiment behind the scenes (the launch had been delayed several months too).鈥�

It was a spectacular sight to witness, as someone who has never seen a rocket launch live," said Nathan Smith. "It was incredible.

Smith and OHIO students Michael Lane and Victoria Swiler submitted their research proposal for the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program in November 2023. The students worked on the experiment throughout the year and then were able to see their work being taken by a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station on Nov. 4. 

鈥淚 felt some relief as it lifted off and accomplished, but I was focused on taking in the sights of something so magical it's hard to even describe the feeling,鈥� Smith explained. 

The research experiment began in the fall of 2023 and has proven to be an invaluable learning experience for everyone involved. And now the research will continue on for several more months after the experiment returns to Earth in December.

The Student Spaceflight Experiment Program

During the fall semester of 2023, OHIO students from all majors were invited to design experiments and write proposals for the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program鈥檚 Mission 18 to the ISS.

Under the leadership of Distinguished Professor Sarah Wyatt, professor of environmental and plant biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, over 34 undergraduates worked in teams with graduate students serving as facilitators to prepare proposals to be judged for the program.

Each of the 10 teams wrote proposals that went to an internal review team for the selection of the three finalists. The finalists鈥� proposals were then sent to NCESSE for selection of the final experiment to fly.

The proposal led by Lane, Smith and Swiler was selected, and the three students spent the spring semester continuing to work on their experiment, preparing it to fly into outer space. The students worked closely with graduate student facilitators Nicholas Whitticar (2023 graduate) and then Samantha Fedoush while continuing to work with Wyatt as well.

The experiment studies plant-microbe interactions in space. Space is not very hospitable for plants, and the goal of the OHIO students is to find a way to increase plant growth in space.

鈥淭hese students were great!  They came up with a novel, exciting experiment, and did all the work themselves,鈥� Wyatt said. 

Launching the project into outer space

On Nov. 4, 2024, the experiment was taken into outer space as part of the SpaceX CRS-31 mission launch.

Swiler, who is an Honors Tutorial College student majoring in environmental and plant biology, has worked in Wyatt鈥檚 lab on spaceflight-adjacent projects since her freshman year at OHIO. It meant a great deal to her to be part of the research team whose experiment was selected for the mission launch.

鈥淎s soon as she announced the winner, I instantly started tearing up,鈥� Swiler said about the original announcement of the winners in 2023.  She has enjoyed working on the research throughout the last year and was grateful to see the experiment launch into outer space.

鈥淩egarding the launch, it was the coolest experience I have ever had,鈥� Swiler said. 鈥漅egardless of whether my experiment was on the rocket or not, it is truly inspiring to see what humans are capable of, and I can't wait to get the opportunity to see it again.鈥�

Regarding the launch," Swiler said, "it was the coolest experience I have ever had.

Lane, who is a biological sciences pre-professional major in the College of Arts and Sciences, said that seeing the launch was a somewhat surreal moment.

鈥淭he rocket seemed to me the culmination of many of humanities greatest minds and on it lies our experiment,鈥� Lane said. 鈥淚t's a very cool feeling to be a part of something so great and I almost couldn't believe it was real.鈥�

Whitticar was not able to travel to the Kennedy Space Center for the launch, but said it was still very rewarding to watch from his home.

鈥淚 watched from my couch and still got chills,鈥� he said. And now, it is incredible to know that the experiment is at the ISS.

鈥淎s I write this, the spaceflight samples are orbiting 250 miles above Earth being exposed to microgravity while the ground controls are sitting in a drawer in Porter Hall,鈥� Whitticar said. 鈥漁nce the samples return, the students will begin processing them to determine if microgravity had an effect on the interaction between plants and microbes.鈥�

What happens next

鈥淭he next steps for the project are to prepare for the arrival of our experiment back to Athens in December,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淐urrently, I am conducting experiments to make sure our analysis of gene expression in our plants can be done correctly and as we had proposed. The analysis of data will hopefully be completed early next spring! Once that is done, we can begin to write a manuscript and possibly get a publication out of our work.鈥�

Everyone on the team is looking forward to running more tests on the experiment when it is returned to Earth and campus in December.

鈥淲hen it is returned to OHIO, we can measure plant growth and gene expression, which will allow us to determine if bacteria helped plant growth in space, and then hopefully run spin-off experiments,鈥� Swiler said. 鈥漈he ultimate goal of our project is to determine ways to increase crop production on long-term space missions.鈥�

Wyatt said that the students are ready to begin their work measuring plant growth and examining gene expression when the experiment returns to Athens.

鈥淲hen the samples return, the actual work begins,鈥� Wyatt said.

And for Wyatt, she is already working on Mission 19 of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, which will allow another team of OHIO students to send their research to the ISS.

It is already in the works: Mission 19,鈥� Wyatt said. "A few students from Mission 18 are working in new teams to create proposals along with several other first-time undergraduates.

Wyatt was very impressed with all of the students who submitted proposals for Mission 18 and was pleased to be able to work with so many of them on the Mission 19 proposals.

The finalists for the next program have already been submitted to the NCESSE for selection of the next OHIO experiment to fly to the ISS, and Wyatt said the winners should be announced in mid-December.

Learning to follow your dreams

The students involved in the Mission 18 program said the experience has provided them with incredible opportunities and that they have learned a lot about science, about themselves and about much, much more.

鈥淭his experience taught me so many things, it's hard to list them all. First of all, definitely teamwork,鈥� Swiler said. She had primarily worked on independent research experiments in the past and was grateful to be able to work with her teammates and graduate student facilitators.

鈥淔inally, I learned to follow my dreams, because you never know what can happen,鈥� Swiler said. 鈥淪tarting my experience at OHIO in 2020 in the midst of COVID, I never in a million years thought I would be able to pull off something like this and get to send an experiment into space!鈥�

Smith said he learned a lot about bacteria, plants and professional proposal writing, and he also learned more about himself.

鈥淚 learned a lot about myself and the motivation I could muster to attempt and complete difficult challenges,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淢ost importantly, I improved my teamwork and communication skills.鈥�

For Lane, he originally got involved in the program because he wanted to get involved in a research experiment before he applied to dental school and because he thought the whole idea sounded interesting.

He learned a great deal over the last year, including that it is very difficult to send something into space, as there were several delays in the last few months.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 part of what made it so surreal when the rocket actually launched,鈥� Lane said. 鈥淚 also learned that good research partners are hard to come by and I鈥檓 very lucky for the group that we had.鈥�

I also learned that good research partners are hard to come by," Lane said.  "And I鈥檓 very lucky for the group that we had.

Whitticar joined the program because Wyatt always provides OHIO students with worthwhile learning opportunities, and he enjoys mentoring undergraduate students who are interested in science.

鈥淭he most valuable thing I learned was how to facilitate a group without overstepping and taking over any of the work,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey came up with the idea, wrote the proposal, and are now running the experiments.鈥�

Fedoush enjoyed working with the students and Wyatt, who is always looking for new innovations to bring to OHIO.

鈥淲orking with Dr. Wyatt, I have had the opportunity to design a new class with her, learning from her years of experience, this has taught me what it takes to design a class and how to think about things from the professor's perspective,鈥� Fedoush said. 鈥淒r. Wyatt is passionate about education and continues to bring new developments to the University.

The whole team is grateful to Wyatt for everything she did for them with this research experiment and thanked other partners, too.

鈥淲e would like to thank former Provost Elizabeth Sayrs for making this all possible by providing funding to the program,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淲e also thank the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) and Nanoracks (the third party who is the middle man for getting allocated space on the space shuttles and provides the hardware for the mission) for putting the national program together.鈥�

About SSEP

The Student Space Flight Experiments Program [or just 鈥淪SEP鈥漖 is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S. and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education Internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with NanoRacks, LLC, which is working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.