The Ocean City High School science experiment that was destroyed last month as the unmanned rocket carrying it to the International Space Station exploded shortly after takeoff on Wallops Island on Virginia’s Eastern Shore will get another chance to fly to space on Dec. 9.
A SpaceX CRS-5 rocket will deliver cargo and crew supplies to the International Space Station — including Ocean City’s experiment — in a launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
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, according to Lauren Bowersock, one of the six students who designed the test.
The Ocean City students — including Bowersock, Mercy Griffith, Kristina Redmond, Daniel Loggi, Kaitland Wriggins and Alison Miles — had traveled to Virginia for the failed launch and witnessed the fiery explosion from a safe viewing area. But the group likely will not be able to travel to Florida for the new launch because of the travel expense combined with the potential for delays in the launch schedule and other factors, according to Ocean City Schools Superintendent Kathleen Taylor.
She said the students were able to reproduce their experiment, and the SSEP will deliver it to Florida for the launch.
A student videographer, Matt Unsworth, is at work editing some of his rare footage of the students, their experiment and the explosion. He is expected to be able to share his work with the community (and potentially the nation) sometime in December. Shocked by the tragedy and saddened for the scientists involved with the launch, the Ocean City students are looking at the explosion as a learning experience.
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