Modesto Christian students await word on International Space Station project

Students and staff at Modesto Christian School have been on pins and needles for the return of a plant science experiment they sent to the International Space Station last month.

Teacher Robert Kissee said his team’s experiment module should have splashed down near Baja California on May 11, but he hasn’t received confirmation from NASA or Modesto Christian’s partner school for the project.

The 12 middle school and high school students on the team were supposed to receive frequent data transfers to a server here on Earth during the 30-day experiment. But damage to a piece of equipment on the space station kept the transmissions from coming, Kissee said. “We hope the data is all there, but until they give it to us, that’s still a question mark, unfortunately.”

Modesto Christian is the first school in the Central Valley to collaborate with NASA, the International Space Station and its partners, such as Lockheed, said K-8 Principal Matt Diehl.

As a principal in Morgan Hill, Diehl heard about the opportunities to have student experiments aboard the ISS. When he came to Modesto Christian, he decided to give it a shot. The MC board gave approval, NASA accepted the school’s application, and supporters including Applied Aerospace Structures in Stockton, AllCare in Modesto, Kamps Propane and Turlock Fruit Co. provided the roughly $34,000 to make the project fly, he said.

Diehl turned to Kissee and science-minded eighth-grader Michael Magallanez to build the team. “The whole point was to give Michael and his classmates and peers in middle school and high school the best opportunities to learn the scientific method possible. And that’s by doing the scientific method,” Diehl said. “So they learned by doing, and worked with some of the highest-level scientists in the world.”

The students had to determine what kind of experiment to conduct, and they narrowed it to plant science. They learned that Valley Christian High School in San Jose has participated for a few years in the NASA program and also had students working on a plant experiment, Magallanez said. Valley Christian became a mentor/collaborator to Modesto Christian.

The experiment regards the effects of zero gravity on plant growth. Modesto Christian constructed a growth capsule for Wisconsin Fast Plant seeds, Magallanez said. The genetically modified plants were ideal for the experiment because they grow to full maturity within 30 days.

Modesto Christian’s was the control capsule, identical to Valley Christian’s with the exception that the San Jose school added high voltage to measure its effect on plant growth, Kissee said.

“Valley Christian taught us their methods for making the growth capsule,” Magallanez said. A ring of seeds was put in growth foam in a small, clear plastic container. That fit into the capsule along with LEDs, a timer, a camera, and a water bag and micropump.

Magallanez and his classmates in Modesto were responsible for determining factors including the light and water needs of the seeds, and how often to photograph the plant’s growth.

They didn’t have to reinvent the wheel, Kissee said, but neither were they given a “plug and play” kit. For example, water doesn’t spray in zero gravity, he said, so students had to make the pump saturate the growth foam, and determine how often water needed to be applied.

They also needed to determine how often to photograph the plant’s progress and what lighting to provide for growth and picture quality. “The biggest issue was the color,” Magallanez said. “Do we put in a special color? Our light team found out different colors benefit a plant in different ways. Do you want a red light – and this is just a guess – or something that helps for germination, or would you rather have all white for good picture quality? It’s like tugging on a rope: Do you want a good picture or a good plant?”

Ultimately, the team settled on two white LEDs.

The Modesto Christian experiment initially was to blast off in March, but another rocket mishap threw the launch off schedule. It ended up lifting off about April 8, Kissee said.

Some of the local students, who range in age from 11 to 17, visited Cape Canaveral in March to see their launch, but had to watch another one instead. Still, Magallanez said, it was a thrilling trip.

Now, the excitement is in the anticipation of what the experiment reveals. Once Modesto Christian has its data (the plant itself will be long dead), “we’ll be analyzing everything, like the effect of temperature on growth. ... Or if it didn’t grow, what was the problem?” Kissee said. Modesto Christian and Valley Christian students will work together – perhaps via Skype, phone, email, or face to face in San Jose – to compile their report.

Kissee said he’s confident MC students also will be able to continue in the International Space Station Project and perhaps have multiple experiments. Valley Christian has four student teams, he said.

The next launch is set for October, so students will have to get to work on what to do next. He said he’s not saying much in front of students right now “because I don’t want to suggest to them that it has to be plant-based again. I want it to be open, I want it to be whatever they want.”

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Modesto Christian students await word on International Space Station project."