CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – June 3, 2021 – At 1:29 PM ET today, Thursday, June 3rd, the 22nd cargo resupply mission from SpaceX lifted off carrying three student experiments from DreamUp in its Dragon capsule, alongside 7,300 pounds of cargo, equipment, experiments, and supplies for the crew aboard the International Space Station. DreamUp, the leader in space-based educational offerings, is proud to support these educational payloads, built by K12 students from iLEAD Schools, a charter school network based in California, as well as university students at the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE. The Cargo Dragon is scheduled to berth to the Space Station on Saturday, June 5, 2021. The three student experiments are planned to remain on board for approximately 30 days before they are returned to Earth.
Students from iLEAD Student Aerospace Projects are sending two Mixstix experiments to the Space Station that will examine the effects of microgravity on seed growth. The first, “What is the effect of microgravity on Daucus carota sativa (carrot seeds),” designed by a team of 5th through 9th graders, will study the possibilities of carrots as “an efficient, nutritional, and appetizing bioregenerative food system for long-duration missions to the moon and beyond.” The second experiment, “What is the effect of microgravity on Vigna radiata (Mung Beans),” developed by a team of 5th to 7th graders, will investigate the impacts of microgravity on mung beans, another possible source of nutrition for astronauts.
The UAE University student experiment, “Space food for Bone Health: Vitamin D fortified camel milk with dates smoothie (SmoothISS)” studies the possible impact of a culturally relevant food source on astronaut health. Specifically, the SmoothISS team will study microgravity’s effects on the sensory, nutritional, and microbial properties of a vitamin D fortified camel milk-based smoothie that could help mitigate the bone loss that astronauts experience after spending long durations in a microgravity environment. SmoothISS is the second payload to launch through the Tests in Orbit program, a microgravity experiment competition open to students in universities in the UAE and facilitated by DreamUp, the Higher Colleges of Technology, Nanoracks, and the UAE Space Agency.
Lauren Milord, Director of Programs for DreamUp said, “The SpaceX CRS-22 mission is carrying student experiments originating from opposite sides of the globe but that help to answer the same question: how can we best support astronaut health on the Space Station and as we venture to further frontiers in space? These students are on the cutting-edge, imagining the possibilities for humanity’s future and developing the very tools that will get us there. I congratulate these students on all their efforts and hard work, particularly as many of them collaborated virtually through the COVID-19 pandemic to develop and launch their experiments.”
These launch opportunities were made possible via our partnership with Nanoracks and its Space Act Agreement with NASA.
For additional media inquiries, please email us at info@dreamup.org, and for continued updates, be sure to follow @DreamUp_Space on Twitter and Instagram.
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About DreamUp
Based in Washington, DC, DreamUp is the first company bringing space into the classroom and the classroom into space. Uniquely positioned to inspire kids globally and engage them through scientific discoveries in space, DreamUp aims to foster an educational community where space-based research and projects will be available to all learners of all ages. DreamUp has a proven track record with more than 500 student research payloads from around the world launched on SpaceX and Northrop Grumman rockets to the International Space Station via a partnership with Nanoracks and its Space Act Agreement with NASA. For more information, visit https://www.dreamup.org/.
