HOUSTON -
The countdown begins. The excitement in this room at Texas Southern University grows as students watch a live video stream of the launch. Not only are there 30,000 pounds of spare parts bound for the international space station, there's also an experiment on board that was developed by students.
"Finally, instead of always reading something in a textbook, we finally get to do it by ourselves. A lot of times science can become boring because you read it all the time, and you never get to experience it hands-on for yourself, so we got to bring to life something we read all the time," said TSU student Chelsea McCoy.
The students want to study how microbes grow in space, and they say they're excited to be able to study something that has left this world and come back. Teachers have another goal.
"Most importantly is the education outreach to get our students involved and excited for science, technology, and mathematics. The fact that students feel there's a career goal or a direction that's one of the biggest objectives," said Professor of Microbiology Jason Rosenzweig.
The students say the biggest objective for this project is to try to help astronauts live safer in their space travel.
"Finally, instead of always reading something in a textbook, we finally get to do it by ourselves. A lot of times science can become boring because you read it all the time, and you never get to experience it hands-on for yourself, so we got to bring to life something we read all the time," said TSU student Chelsea McCoy.
The students want to study how microbes grow in space, and they say they're excited to be able to study something that has left this world and come back. Teachers have another goal.
"Most importantly is the education outreach to get our students involved and excited for science, technology, and mathematics. The fact that students feel there's a career goal or a direction that's one of the biggest objectives," said Professor of Microbiology Jason Rosenzweig.
The students say the biggest objective for this project is to try to help astronauts live safer in their space travel.
