Ocean City Science Project Launched Into Space Returns to Earth

Six Ocean City High School students will finally see the results of their science experiment that was launched into space last month.

The students’ experiment was scheduled to be dropped into the Pacific Ocean sometime on Wednesday, the Ocean City Gazette reports.

The experiment will be retrieved and returned to the school this weekend, and the students will have the chance to analyze the results on Tuesday, according to the report.

The experiment is designed to gauge the attachment rate of E. coli bacteria to lettuce leaves in microgravity. The hope was that it could be useful in treating infection in astronauts.

The students who worked on the project were seniors Mercy Griffith, Kaitland Wriggin, Lauren Bowersock, Kristina Redmond, Dan Liggi and Alison Miles.

They worked under the direction of teachers Dave Urich, Catherine Georges and Weaver, and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Director Mikenzie Helphestine.

It is part of the national Student Spaceflight Experiment program.

It was launched into space on board the SpaceX rocket that launched from Cape Canaveral in January.

It was initially scheduled to launch on Oct. 28 onboard the Antares Rocket. However, the rocket exploded over the Launchpad shortly after takeoff.

No one was injured in the accident.

Scheduled launches were delayed twice more before it finally reached space. It was in space for about a month.

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