Archive | Program News

Update: Schedule for Harvesting STS-134 Experiment Samples

The STS-134 Harvesting of Experiment Samples page has been updated to reflect the new harvesting schedule based on the current landing date of Endeavour of 2:32 am on Wednesday, June 1. You can access the page at: http://ssep.ncesse.org/current-flight-opportunities/sts-134-final-flight-of-shuttle-endeavour/sts-134-harvesting-of-experiment-samples/ All STS-134 teams are urged to review the schedule, which has the experiment samples arriving at the […]

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Critical Update for SSEP on STS-135: Tentative Selection of Flight Experiments, FS/C Test, and Launch Delay

Tentative Selection of Flight Experiments The SSEP National Step 2 Review Board met at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in downtown Washington, DC, on Wednesday and Thursday, May 18 and 19. The Board tentatively selected a student flight experiment for each of the 11 communities participating in SSEP on STS-135. Most of the Board members […]

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SSEP Operations Update: MDA Mini-Lab Activation on Endeavour begins 3:45 am EDT Tuesday, May 17

NCESSE has been informed that the MDA mini-Laboratory containing the SSEP experiments is scheduled to be activated aboard Endeavour early Tuesday morning, May 17. The first slide of the MDA blocks will take place at 3:45 am EDT. The second slide of the blocks, which will activate all Type 2-Prime experiment slots, will take place […]

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Endeavour Blasts off with the Aspirations of Thousands of Student Scientists Aboard

Space Shuttle Endeavour is now in orbit on her final mission. Aboard her are 16 experiments designed by (grade 5-13) student scientists from 16 communities across America. Yet these experiments reflect only some of the students that took part in the first flight opportunity for the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP). Thousands of students—in dozens […]

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Get Ready NOW for Fall 2011: Routine SSEP Operations Begin on the International Space Station

The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, in partnership with NanoRacks, LLC, are proud to provide advanced word that starting in Fall 2011, the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program moves into Phase 2 with routine operations aboard the International Space Station (ISS)—America’s National Laboratory on the edge of space, and one of the most […]

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8:00 pm May 5, 2011: STS-134 Launch

NCESSE received word from NanoRacks/ITA late this afternoon that today’s meeting at NASA did not establish a definitive launch date, and that the launch is now defined as No Earlier Than (NET) May 12, which is a change from this morning’s No Earlier Than May 10. Our payload operations must therefore drive against a May […]

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Important Information for STS-135 Finalist Proposals: Read this Post Before Submitting to NCESSE

Three finalist proposals from each of the communities participating in SSEP on STS-135 are due to NCESSE NO LATER THAN 10:00 PM EDT MAY 13, 2011. As can be seen from the Critical Timeline, milestones for: finalist proposal submission, to selection of flight experiments, to winning team submissions of samples for the Fluid/Sample Compatibility Test, […]

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The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S., and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with DreamUp PBC and NanoRacks LLC, which are working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture.