November 9 at 8:28 pm – Register to Watch Virtually!
Last year, LBMS 6th graders participated in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP). The students worked in groups writing research design proposals, competing for a chance to have their group's experiment selected for flight to the International Space Station, where astronauts will perform their experiment according to the students' procedure.
The research question of the winning project is: How Does Microgravity Affect the Germination of Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus)? This paper was submitted by: Frank DePace, Nathaniel Kaplan, Gergory Seifert, Jackson Spitz, and Giuliana Urrego. They worked most closely with their 6th Grade Science Teacher, Mrs. Regina Dean, but were supported by the entire staff of Long Beach Middle School and members of our Administrative Team across the District.
In addition to the competition for the chance to have a project flown to space, we held two Mission Patch Design Contests. Our winners were Caylee Donaghy (currently in Grade 4 at Lido) and Geralynn Duarte (currently in Grade 7); their designs are posted above. These two Mission Patches will be flown to the ISS with the Mushroom Mini-Lab and all will ferry back with embossed certificates acknowledging space flight.
As we speak, our students' experiment is currently being housed at Nanoracks LLC, in Texas, where it will be joined by all the other Mission 17 mini-labs being flown to space. In a couple of weeks, the experiments will be transported from Nanoracks to NASA Kennedy Space Center. From there, they will fly via SpaceX rocket to the ISS! As of now, the actual launch is scheduled for Nov. 9, at 8:28 pm.
Please see the below link with exciting information about the SSEP MIssion 17 Launch and to register to attend launch virtually. The date has changed 4 times so far, but we are hoping the launch will go on as planned for this Thursday, Nov. 9, at 8:28pm. If that changes, we will post it on the LB website.
A very exciting side-note is: The USA astronaut working up at the ISS for the next few months, Jasmin Moghbeli, is a graduate of Baldwin HS! We have put in a special request to have our neighbor be the astronaut who carries out our students' procedure!
Click Here to Register
Date Added: 11/6/2023