High School Student's Experiment Goes into Space

Abstract

The third flight of NASA's Space Shuttle, launched on March 22, had stowaways on board. In addition to the crew members and the normal assortment of flora and fauna that live on and in the human body, velvetbean caterpillar moths and honeybee drones were present for the historic trip into space. They are the subjects of an experiment designed by a Minnesota high school student. Todd E. Nelson is an 18-year-old senior at Southland Public School, Adams, Minnesota, and his experiment, Insects in Flight Motion Study, was chosen as the first student experiment to be placed on board a Space Shuttle flight. Nelson is one of ten finalists in the NASAsponsored National Space Shuttle Student Involvement Project for Secondary Schools. Developed in cooperation with the National Science Teachers Association, the project seeks to stimulate student interest in science and technology. The experiment is designed to pro vide data on the flight behavior in zero gravity of two species of flying insects with differing ratios of body mass to wing area. The experiment calls for placing a container aboard the Space Shuttle, stored in a drawer in the mid deck of the Orbiter. An astronaut would then remove the container (holding ten specimens of each species of insect), attach it to the wall of the mid deck, and observe their behavior. Their flight patterns would be filmed against a background grid. After filming, the astronaut would return the insects, still in their container, to the locker for the return flight and later analysis. While insect flight behavior has been studied before, it was for only a brief period of about 20 seconds in-parabolic flight. The Avionics Division of Honeywell, Inc. of Minneapolis, at the invitation of NASA, agreed to sponsor development of Nelson's experiment. Dr. Robert Peterson of the Honeywell Corporation and Nelson have worked together for the six months prior to the Shuttle at Honeywell's headquarters, preparing the experiment for flight. In addition, Honeywell has provided travel funds to enable Nelson to work with Peterson and to attend the liftoff, analyze data, and prepare a final report. The overall goal of the NASA project is to stimulate the study of science and engineering by engaging students in an annual competition to develop experiments suitable for flight aboard the Space Shuttle. The competition is open to students in grades 9 to 12, enrolled in American public, private, parochial, and overseas schools. Regional winners (about 200) and their teachers were invited to attend conferences held at NASA field centers where the students presented their proposals to teams of scientists. Based on advice provided by the scientists, regional winners made minor revisions in their proposals prior to final judging in Washington, D.C. The experiments of the remaining winners of the 1980-81 competition are being readied for inclusion on future Space Shuttle flights, as space is available. It is not surprising that seven of the ten winning proposals involve problems in biology. The titles include Biofeedback, Growth of Porifera in Zero Gravity, and Effects of Weightlessness on Arthritis. Information about future competitions may be obtained by writing to: Shuttle Student Involvement Project, NSTA, 1742 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009.