TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
PARTICIPATE IN NASA PROJECT
Video courtesy of Luther
Richardson - See
his website for more pictures and information.
Educators and students of the Muscogee County School District are on a
special assignment in Houston, Texas.
Teachers Carole Mashburn and Scott Chandler of St. Elmo, Luther Richardson
of Columbus High, and Troy McGarr of Richards Middle IB and students Avery
Baggett and Eryn Manard of Columbus High are participating in an experiment,
“Physics of Plant Growth in Micro, Lunar, and Martian Gravity,”at the NASA
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.
A live video conference linking Columbus with Houston is scheduled for
Friday, March 14, from 1:45 pm to 2:15 pm at the Columbus State University
ETTC in the Cunningham Center. Fourth- and fifth-grade students and teachers
Karan Ann Hawk and Vicky Smith of Elmo Center will ask the crew questions
about the experiment.
The crew in Houston is working under the leadership of NASA mentor Luther
Richardson, who is a member of
NEAT (Network of Educator Astronaut Teachers), a group of 190
educators identified as highly qualified for the astronaut program, along
with Kristin Painting, who will fly the "Weightless Wonder" Thursday, March
13.
Prior to the video conference, Scott Chandler and Troy McGarr will fly
the “Weightless Wonder” on Friday, March 14. Carole Mashburn is the
alternate flyer. Columbus High students Avery Baggett and Eryn Manard will
serve as ground crew (non-flyers). Scott Chandler and Troy McGarr will share
how the experiment worked and answer questions from the students about the
flight during the live video conference.
Growing plants on the moon and Mars will be critical to the long-term
survival of human explorers as well as for the long-term space travel.
Understanding differences in how plants work in the gravity of these
environments is an important investigation to anyone intending to leave the
Earth for extended periods of time.
This project, an open-ended investigation, addresses a series of
small-scope research questions regarding cellular respiration, water, and
nutrient transportation, and the effects of thermal radiation on plant
growth in microgravity. To address the research questions derived by
students at three different schools, a suite of sensors will be employed. A
42 channel 16-bit data logger will collect up to 2GB data during ground
trials and in flight. The analog sensors include a CO2 sensor, an O2 sensor,
temperature, relative humidity and light sensors, and a leaf wetness sensor.
After the return to Columbus, high school students Eryn Manard and Avery
Bagget will help the St. Elmo fourth- and fifth-grade students to analyze
data graphically and look for linear and nonlinear trends.
See
microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/ for more information.
