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Growing plants in confined areas is not only vital for space exploration but also essential to producing food in our changing world.  For the Plants in Space Investigation Stations, student teams will help NASA better understand the germination of space seeds and what is necessary to keep plants alive indoors for 30 days.

Plants in Space

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Bricks will be a necessary product that astronauts will need on the Moon to build a Lunar city.  However, at the current cost of $1.2 million dollars a pound to bring cargo to the Moon, astronauts will have to use materials found on the moon.  These Investigation Stations will help astronauts determine what is necessary in the construction of bricks for the Moon.

Lunar Brick Mold

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Studying life cycles of insects in space can help NASA learn more about how the space environment affects living things and even provide protein rich food for the astronauts.  In the Insects in Space Investigation Stations, you will be tasked with providing food, water, and suitable habitats for insects in confined areas. 

Insects in Space

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These Investigation Stations challenge students to design and prototype a versatile chair suitable for a Lunar habitat.  The task is complicated by the exorbitant cost of shipping materials to the moon, the limited cargo space on the rocket to the moon, and only having 1/6th  gravity on the moon.

Lunar Chair

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The moon environment is currently a place of mostly shades of gray.  Providing colorful environments and attractive art for the astronauts is important for their mental health.  These Investigation Stations challenge students to use the resources already on the moon or recyclable waste materials produced on the moon to improve the astronauts’ lives on the moon.

Lunar Art

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Would a Lunar Scooter help astronauts get around on the moon?  One of the challenging tasks in making a Lunar Scooter will be the measurements of the wheel and the design of the treads for the wheel.  These Investigation Stations challenge students to observe, design and fabricate the best size and treads of a Lunar Scooter Wheel for the surface of the moon.

Lunar Scooter Wheel

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What would happen if you rolled a pair of dice in a microgravity environment?  With careful observations students will experiment and design the best prototype so that astronauts can play games using dice in microgravity.

Microgravity Dice Game

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With current cost of $1.2 million to send a pound of food to the moon, astronauts will not be able to bring their lunch!  A lunar greenhouse can provide even more than food for the astronauts.  It can be a place for astronauts to relax, remediate Carbon Dioxide from the air and produce Oxygen since plants do this through photosynthesis.  Can you design a greenhouse to meet these tasks?

Projects