AIS Launches New Space Program

From AIS: Many people dream of exploring space. Few people get a chance to. This year a group of AIS Middle and Upper School students will get a chance to do just that when they have their experiment launched to the International Space Station.

At AIS, STEAM is offered as part of the IB curriculum and goes beyond the classroom. Proof of this is the unique experiential AIS Space Program launched this year and open to students from 6th to 12th grade.

In this program, run by Dr. Marsha Maxwell, Head of Technology at AIS, the young scientists are exploring the wayfinding behavior of Physarum polycephalum , a slime mold, on the earth and in microgravity. They are building circuits and a module for an experiment that will be conducted in space for 30 days on the International Space Station. They will use the data they receive back from NASA to create a machine learning algorithm that explains how the microorganisms’ growth patterns and maze-solving abilities differ in the absence of gravity.

In order to send the experiment to space, students are applying engineering skills as they create circuit diagrams and build the control board for the module. Space on the station is extremely limited, therefore the microlab needs custom-designed experimental apparatus. The students are applying their CAD knowledge to create the enclosure and maze structure and then 3D print them. The experiment will be remote, so they have to apply their coding skills to fully automate it once the astronauts plug the module into its bay on the space station. Of course, it goes without saying that they have to bring their knowledge of biology to devise the behavior component of the experiment.

Students are working with local mentors and an MIT Media Lab scientist as they navigate through the various milestones on their way to launch. When the module is returned to earth, they will study the results in order to produce the algorithm and will have the chance to attend and present their work at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Atlanta and at the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research in Denver, Co.
The launch of the AIS module will be on April 17, 2019, from the Wallops Island facility in Virginia and will be returned on the first rocket back to earth after May 17, 2019.
“STEAM at Atlanta International School is designed to develop students with the mental elasticity and abstract interdisciplinary knowledge to have an active and impactful effect on theirglobalcommunity. TheAISSpaceProgramisthelatestofthemanyprojectsatAISthat engage students to apply Science, Technology, Engineering and Math to real and complex experiments that can connect them to the real world and beyond” said Dr. Marsha Maxwell, AIS Head of Technology.

Image via AIS