Cumberland County students compete to send science experiments to International Space Station

The 3rd annual STARward STEM Expo took place on Tuesday at Douglas Byrd High School in Fayetteville.

The event hosted over 200 students representing teams from kindergarten through the 12th grade.

According to Cumberland County Schools, student teams from participating schools in Fayetteville and Cumberland County investigate challenges that face astronauts in space exploration, identify a problem of interest, and design an experiment that can help improve life in space.

The winning teams will have their science projects sent to the International Space Station as “science payload.”

“I think it’s so cool,” Maura Richard said. “The fact that we get the chance to make up our own designs, and with the possibility of sending them into space.”

In addition to the student winners, two teachers and a principal will attend the Space Academy for Educators in June at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Alabama.

“We see communities do this for all of the sports, but to be able to do this around education, and know what our country and communities need right now, we’re just really excited to be part of this,“ Cumberland County STEM Education Director Frank McKay said.

The experiments can be as simple or as complex as the students want.

Richard and Kyleigh James are part of a six-person team called the Fly Guys. They want to see if plant seeds will grow in outer space.

“We’re going to put the seeds into what is a mystic tube and we’re going to have it separated into three sections. We’re going to put the seeds into each section and hope they grow in space,” James said.

One experiment two years ago tested the impacts of perchlorates, a chemical compound found in the soil on Mars, on aerospace aluminum alloy.

Denise Renfro, a teacher in Cumberland County, said the students investigating perchlorates were among the first to see their experiments sent to the ISS as part of the program.

“Their experiment looked at the Mars rover and it had corrosion on its wheel,” Renfro explained. “They found out what metal it was, did a little research and discovered perchlorates in the Martian soil. So they got some of the alloys and sent it up with perchlorates.”