Omaha Students’ Experiment Set for Space Journey to the International Space Station
This summer, an innovative experiment and creative mission patch designs by Omaha students will make their way to the International Space Station (ISS). These projects are part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, which offers students a unique opportunity to contribute to space research.
The program invites participation from various communities across the United States, with Metropolitan Community College (MCC) serving as the host for the Omaha area’s competitions. Students enrolled in college and dual-credit courses were eligible to apply for the experiment segment of the program. According to Kendra Sibbernsen, a physics and astronomy professor at MCC, the students faced challenges in adhering to the strict design specifications.
“The amount of materials that they could fit in there were very small,” Sibbernsen explained. “It was like five milliliters, 10 milliliters and five milliliters in this tube. They could be mixed together by astronauts on the space station at certain times, but it was very limited in what the astronauts would interact with the experiments.”
Three teams from MCC advanced to a national competition, with one Omaha team’s experiment ultimately chosen for a space mission this summer. The selected experiment aims to measure neutron radiation levels using a bubble dosimeter.
Sibbernsen elaborated on the experiment’s process: “We’re going to have a couple of them here in Nebraska measuring, and then we’re going to have a couple on the space station for about a month. Then it’ll come back, and then we will be able to have the students compare the two. We expect to see quite a bit more neutron radiation on the International Space Station.”
