.Sponsored by the School of Engineering and Applied Science of Washington University of St. Louis, Missouri, Aria 1 carries the hopes and dreams of more than 300 students from eight schools in the St. Louis area. The students, ranging in age from kindergarten to high school, prepared hypotheses, designed experiments and collected materials under the guidance of their teachers.
The university paid NASA $3,000 to have Aria 1 flown inside a Get-Away Special (GAS) canister. The university also spent $300 designing and building the containment structure that fit inside the 60-pound (27-kilogram) canister and another $400 for 45 special plastic vials.
Each vial measures an inch (2.5 centimeters) in diameter and 3.5 inches (8.9 centimeters) high. The students will compare the contents of the space vials with a sample of the same material they are keeping on the ground. The idea is to see how various substances might fare after nearly 11 days in space, where temperatures range from 250 degrees Fahrenheit (121 degrees Celsius) in sunlight to minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 156.6 degrees Celsius) in darkness.
"They came up with all sorts of ideas," said Keith Bennett, an assistant professor of computer science at Washington University who serves as principal investigator for the project.
"We wanted them to pick things theyd be comfortable in analyzing. None of this is considered cutting-edge science but rather an attempt to expose them to science and spaceflight," he said.
Of course, not every item on the students wish list could go into space.
"The one thing it seemed every elementary school wanted to fly, and we couldnt because of the size, were tennis shoes. I guess they figured if they got tennis shoes that had flown in space theyd have more bounce to them and they could be a big star," Bennett said.
Because the GAS canister was a passive experiment that required no involvement from Atlantis crew, the students couldnt send anything that required batteries. They also could not select any live objects like insects or fish.
But just about anything else was fair game.
So students at Sacred Heart Elementary School of Florissant, for example, picked moldy bread, rotting hamburger and strands of hair. They wanted to see how fast those things decomposed in space compared to the same materials on the ground.
Students at Glenridge Elementary School chose bubblegum. They wanted to see how chewable the gum would be after flight.
And students at Ladue Junior High settled on moist towelettes, toothpaste and a floppy disk among other things. They wanted to see how effective those items would be after a spin in orbit.
"One girl wanted to send her little brother," recalled Fred Lewis, a chemistry and physics teacher at Marissa Junior and Senior High School. The school instead chose 18 different kinds of garden, flower and crop seeds.
"Were keeping a control sample here so when we get the ones back from space were going to plant them side by side," Lewis said. "Well look at germination rates and look at leaf growth and harvest the seeds."
His students hope to send a second generation of the space seeds into orbit next February on Aria 2, also sponsored by Washington University. That project, to be flown aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, will feature 120 different student experiments.
"This is a tremendous way to get kids excited about space," said Lewis, who as a college student cut class only once so he could watch John Glenns historic Mercury launch in 1962. "This gives them a chance to do some real science right alongside the professionals."
Its doubtful that NASA would ever send up anything like Aria 1 on its own.
"We wouldnt be doing this sort of experiment if we were paying for it," said Scott Higginbotham, Atlantis payload manager at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. "Theres not much scientific value for us in the effects of spaceflight on bubblegum.
"Its more about education than true science," Higginbotham said. "Its meant to get the kids excited about spaceflight."
Even big kids like those at Washington University, who helped with the engineering of Aria 1, were thrilled by the chance to work with actual space hardware.
"This has been just a great experience," said Jason Minier, a senior mechanical engineering major from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who plays defensive tackle on the Bears' football team. "Its a chance to put your engineering skills to work in a real project. And thats so much different than explaining things in a paper."
The students samples have had plenty of time to ripen before launch.
Aria 1 was shipped to NASA in late May for assembly at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Then the experiment was sent to Florida where a team from the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, inspected it and loaded it into the shuttle.
After Atlantis returns, it will take ground teams about seven to 10 days to remove Aria 1 from the cargo bay. The project will be returned to Washington University, which will see that the various schools get their vials back.
"We dont open up the vials," Bennett said. "We let the schools do that. It should be a real aromatic experience for some of them.
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