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Moscow, Idaho — December 13, 2021 — Vandal Innovations plans to travel to the International Space Station (ISS).
One of the five selected by NASA’s Citizen Science Student Payload Opportunity (SPOCS) National Competition, a team of students from the University of Idaho School of Engineering will go to the Kennedy Space Center to witness the December 21 launch of SpaceX. The launch will Send their research to the International Space Station.
Their research will test how microgravity affects the efficacy of polymers known to resist the adhesion of bacteria on the earth. The polymer coating will be tested on aluminum alloys used in many high-contact areas throughout the International Space Station, such as handrails and door handles.
The launch will be live broadcast and streamed at 2:06 AM Pacific Time on Tuesday, December 21st at nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/. The launched student photos and videos will be available for download in the online gallery.
"Our experiments are designed to work in some of the worst conditions: space," said Hannah Johnson, a chemical engineering graduate and team leader for the project. "The results of this experiment will provide us with a unique set of data points to understand how bacterial resistance works and what we can do in space and on Earth to better protect ourselves and stay healthy."
As part of the NASA-funded project, the university team is expected to involve K-12 students in their research. The two polymers that entered the International Space Station were selected based on experiments led by students in grades three to five at J. Russell Elementary School in Moscow, Idaho.
Using petri dishes containing anti-bacterial polymers and controls, elementary students were asked to be creative and collect bacteria from various sources, including sinks, floors, windows, lunch tables, keyboards, and even a bottle of hand sanitizer.
Over the course of 30 days, elementary school students use nutrient broth to grow bacteria in petri dishes. By monitoring daily changes, the students reported on the two polymers they thought were the most suitable. The SPOCS team analyzed the data to verify the results and selected the two best performers to send to the International Space Station.
"The collaboration with NASA has allowed our students to reach unbelievable standards. This team will definitely rise to the challenge and succeed in things that few people can experience," the team's faculty advisor Matt Bernards Said that he is an associate professor of chemical engineering and the head of NASA's Idaho Space Grants Alliance.
In order to prevent bacteria from growing before reaching space, the team designed an enclosure that includes an upper dry space for electronic storage, a lower moist space for bacterial growth, and a set of mobile devices for introducing bacteria. When the astronaut inserts the device, the bacteria encapsulated in a small spring plunger will be introduced into the wet room to start growing. The device also contains a control panel without polymer coating.
The experiment will remain undisturbed for approximately 30 days before returning to Earth, after which a microscopic evaluation will be performed to determine which polymer is most resistant to bacteria.
The U of I team includes chemical engineering graduates Adriana Bryant, Hannah Johnson, Travis Lindsay, Roslyn McCormack, Niko Hansen and Kael Stelck, as well as current students Kaitlyn Harvey and Ashley Keeley.
Learn more about the team and its projects at uidaho.edu/nasa-spocs.
Media Note: Students can be interviewed. Photos and videos are available for download and added to the online gallery when available. Send an email to alexisst@uidaho.edu or call 208-885-7511 to schedule an interview.
Alexiss Turner Marketing and Communication Manager College of Engineering 208-885-7511 alexisst@uidaho.edu
The University of Idaho is the hometown of the Vandals and a land-grant national research university in Idaho. U of I serves Idaho from its residential campus in Moscow through educational centers in Boise, Coeur d'Alene, and Idaho Falls, nine research and extension centers, and extension offices in 42 counties. With nearly 11,000 students across the state, U of I is a leader in student-centered learning, specializing in interdisciplinary research, serving businesses and communities, and promoting diversity, citizenship, and global promotion. U of I participated in Big Sky and Western Athletic conferences. Learn more on uidaho.edu
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