Students experiment picked for 2011 space shuttle flight

Written by Robin Walluck - Huntington Herald on December 08, 2010

Leann Misencik, Kayla Russo, Jason Shnipes, Omar Sobh, and James Szabo are one step closer to having their science project launched into space. They just have one more test to pass.

The Shelton High School students beat 19 other teams of students from Shelton Intermediate School and Shelton High School in the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program (SSEP) to have their science experiment on the last flight of the space shuttle Endeavour.

The winning experiment is “Development of Prokaryotic Cell Walls in Microgravity.” It was announced on Sunday, Nov. 28. The project will be on the shuttle as long as it passes a NASA toxicology review.

The shuttle Endeavour is slated to launch Feb. 27, 2011.

Tina Henckel is assistant director of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and data management for the school district. She said the students’ experiment will go on the Endeavour once it passes the NASA toxicology review.

Henckel said to open up the SSEP to everyone at the high school, students were asked to create an emblem for the students’ project. The student body will soon vote on the winning emblem.

The project

The Shelton School District was one of 15 school districts comprising 53 schools across the country, and the only district in Connecticut, to participate in SSEP.

The experiments were funded through grants from outside agencies. PerkinElmer contributed ,000 to Shelton’s SSEP. This was combined with the Connecticut Space Grant Consortium’s ,500 contribution to fund the venture.

Henckel said the SSEP is undertaken by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and partners with NanoRacks LLC.

This is an “initiative that provides middle and high school classes in grades five through 12 across an entire school district the ability to propose experiments to fly in low Earth orbit, and to celebrate that accomplishment with their local community and with national and global audiences,” Henckel said in a recent presentation to the Board of Education.

The winning team of students will be invited to go to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch the experiments get loaded on the shuttle and to watch the launch of the Endeavour.