Singapore students send science experiment to International Space Station

SINGAPORE — A group of students from the Singapore American School (SAS) will become the first in Singapore to have a science experiment installed on the International Space Station (ISS), the school announced on Monday (June 5).

The students’ experiment was carried to space onboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which was successfully launched on Sunday via SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United State. The spacecraft is expected to take two days to arrive at the ISS.

Upon arrival, the students’ experiment, encased in a container known as a MicroLab, will be placed by the astronauts onboard the ISS, and will run for a month.

The experiment is meant to study the effects of microgravity on mutations in bacteria, and will test radiation levels in space using melanin genes implanted in E coli bacteria.

Periodically, astronauts will download data and photos back to earth so that the students can collect, analyse, and monitor their experiment.

The students will also be conducting their ground experiments in school after the experiment is returned to them post-flight.

The purpose is to eventually help astronauts genetically modify plants to produce more melanin, which could potentially make growing plants in space easier.

Student Sunita Srivatsan, who led five others in this project, said: “The idea that our experiment could potentially impact the future of space research, kept us focused... It’s not often that high schoolers get an opportunity of this magnitude, and we’re grateful to the SAS community, the SAS Foundation, and to our coaches and mentors.”

The students have been planning and doing research for the experiment for nearly a year, the school said in a press release. The other students on the team are Jaclyn Chan, Keshav Jagannath, Annie Kim, Madeline Smith, and Devansh Tandon, and they are mentored by a former National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientist and a National University of Singapore (NUS) graduate.

The ex-NASA scientist, Dr Bidushi Bhattacharya, is the founder of Bhattacharya Space Enterprises, a Singapore-based company dedicated to building the space tech ecosystem here through training, education and outreach.

She said: “I am really excited about this group of students in Singapore who are delivering something into orbit... This is a very exciting time for commercial spacetech growth, thanks to companies such as SpaceX.

“Traditionally, space-related career paths were feasible for students from larger nations, but rapid privatisation and miniaturisation of electronics has made space accessible globally.”

She added: “The main purpose of this experiment is to make space technology development a tangible career option for students... We are hoping to take this to other schools in Singapore in the coming years.”