NASA postponed the launch of a rocket that was scheduled to carry an Ocean City High School science experiment to the International Space Station at 1:22 p.m. today (Friday, Dec. 19).
The resupply mission will be rescheduled to no earlier than Jan. 6 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., according to a NASA news release.
Ocean City High School seniors Lauren Bowersock, Kristina Redmond, Mercy Griffith, Daniel Loggi, Kaitland Wriggins, Alison Miles and a handful of administrators and teachers had traveled to Wallops Island on Virginia’s Eastern Shore in October to watch the experiment launch. Instead, they witnessed the unmanned rocket explode shortly after takeoff (read more).
Nobody was injured in the explosion of the unmanned rocket, but the OCHS experiment was destroyed.
The OCHS experiment is part of the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program (SSEP), a national program designed to inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers in the U.S. The Ocean City students competed against others nationwide for the opportunity to have their experiment conducted aboard the International Space Station.
The Ocean City experiment analyzes the effect of microgravity on the attachment rate of E. coli bacteria to lettuce cells — information that would be practical if people ever tried to cultivate food during long periods of travel in space.
The students have seen several other scheduled launches postponed as they wait for their experiment to be transported.
