Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) 19th Flight Opportunity – SSEP Mission 17 to the International Space Station, Starting September 2022
2022-23 Academic Year Opportunity for 2- and 4-year Colleges and Universities to Engage 30+ Students (Reflecting at Least 10 Teams) in Real Microgravity Experiment Design and Proposal Writing, with One Experiment at Your Institution Selected for Operation By Astronauts on the International Space Station
STEM Project-Based Learning Through Immersion in an Authentic Research Experience on the High Frontier
TIME CRITICAL: interested colleges and universities are directed to inquire about the program as soon as possible, and no later than May 30, 2022
MILESTONE DATES:
Experiment Design and Proposal Writing Phase: September 1 – November 2, 2022 (9 weeks)
Proposal Review Board Selection of Your Community’s Flight Experiment: December 15, 2022
SpaceX Launch of Your Experiment to the International Space Station: Late Spring 2023
Ferry Flight Return to Earth: Launch + 4 to 6 weeks
SSEP National Conference, likely at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC: early July 2023
PROGRAM OVERVIEW:
The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education announces Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) Mission 17 to the International Space Station. This opportunity gives students across your institution the ability to design and propose microgravity experiments to fly in low-Earth orbit on the International Space Station (ISS). Experiments are designed to real world engineering and technology constraints imposed by the flight certified mini-lab that must be used, and the nature of flight operations to and from Low Earth Orbit. One experiment at each institution will be selected to fly to ISS on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in FL. Your experiment will launch from historic pad 39A, the same pad from which all Apollo missions to the Moon launched, and 82 Space Shuttle missions. Astronauts aboard ISS will operate the experiment 4-6 weeks before it is returned to Earth and to your student flight team for analysis. SSEP is not a simulation. We are truly inviting your students to be part of America’s Space Program.
A college or university can also engage hundreds of students in mission patch art and design competitions – as possibly outreach to local school districts, with two patches selected to fly with the flight experiment. SSEP is therefore an authentic STEAM initiative. Given we are still in the 50th anniversary years of the Apollo missions to the Moon – Apollo 16 and 17 launched in 1972, we invite your institution to use the mission patch competitions to also celebrate the most remarkable journeys ever undertaken by the human race.
An important consideration – the expectation is that faculty mentors in a participating 2- or 4-year college or university will engage at least 30 undergraduate students over 9 weeks of experiment design and proposal writing spanning September 1 through November 2, 2022. Students will form into at least 10 teams, each team designing a microgravity experiment in a science discipline of their choice. Each team writes a formal proposal to make the case for why their experiment should be selected for flight to ISS. Your students will be engaged in a very real research proposal competition, focusing on technical writing, mirroring the experiences of professional scientists and engineers. A national review board meeting in Washington, DC, will select the flight experiment for your institution, and do the same for each of the other Mission 17 participating communities.
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) provides a fully authentic research competition as a STEM Project Based Learning experience. Launch of the Mission 17 flight experiments is currently projected for Spring 2023. Mission 17 occurs across the 2022-23 academic year.
For complete program details, and how to explore this opportunity for your community, read the SSEP Home Page:
http://ssep.ncesse.org
To explore examples of undergraduate experiments flown on prior SSEP Missions, visit:
Program Contact:
Dr. Jeff Goldstein, Center Director
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE)