The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) was launched in June 2010 by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in strategic partnership with NanoRacks, LLC. It is a remarkable U.S. national Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education initiative that gives many students across a participating community the ability to design and propose real experiments to fly in low Earth orbit, first aboard the final flights of the Space Shuttle, and then on the International Space Station if the student project is chosen.  

In each participating SSEP community, as part of the Flight Experiment Design Competition, student teams design micro gravity flight experiments and submit well-crafted, formal proposals that are written to defined criteria. Proposals go through a 2-Step review process, with the participating community assembling a Step 1 Review Board of local area educators and researchers that selects 3 finalist proposals. The finalist proposals are forwarded to the SSEP National Step 2 Review Board that selects one flight experiment for each community.

At this point, our student team has been approved by the Step 2 Review Board and will be representing Houston, Texas in the SSEP program.  This is a very exciting and unique opportunity for the student team.  However, they will need your support in completing the project and making their dreams become reality.  Students will need travel expenses, as well as, room and board for travel to the Smithsonian Institute to attend the Final Phase Review and Mentorship to fine tune the project before flight to the International Space Station.  This will be a great experience for the student team in that it will provide real world contacts, mentorship and a truly unique educational opportunity based on real world problem based learning. The student team has put forth remarkable work and effort.  Now its our time to support them!

Please help the student team's dream become a reality!

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