Last update of this page: February 29, 2024, 10:38 am ET
Fitchburg, MA, 11th graders Nadia Machado and Yeniffer Araujo run titrations to optimize their SSEP Mission 2 to ISS flight experiment. Click for Zoom
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) has provided 20 flight opportunities to date for communities across the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and Ukraine to conduct a microgravity experiment design competition at the local level—on the final flights of Space Shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis (STS-134 and STS-135), and Missions 1 through 18 to ISS. In each participating community, student teams write proposals vying for a flight experiment slot reserved just for their community in a real research mini-laboratory scheduled to fly to Low Earth Orbit.
Across the 20 flight opportunities a total of 242 communities participated the program. Thus far 76 communities have participated in at least 2 – and as many as 11 – flight opportunities, reflecting the sustainable nature of the program.
Through the first 20 flight opportunities (through Mission 18), total of 161,900 grade 5-16 students were formally immersed in microgravity experiment design and proposal writing, 31,385 flight experiment proposals were received from student teams, and 421 experiments were chosen for flight through a formal 2-step review process – one experiment for each flight opportunity conducted by a community. (A handful of communities fly 2 experiments per flight opportunity.)
Data for SSEP Mission 18 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 37
Total number of schools participating: 297, in 16 States, 2 Canadian Provinces, and Ukraine
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 14,250
Total number of proposals received: 1,859
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 797
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 110
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 39
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 18 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 17 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 37
Total number of schools participating: 336, in 18 States, 1 Canadian Province, and Ukraine
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 12,860
Total number of proposals received: 2,261
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 1,208
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 112
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 39
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 17 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 16 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 22
Total number of schools participating: 287, in 11 States, 1 Canadian Province, and Ukraine
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 6,500
Total number of proposals received: 1,262
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 539
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 70
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 24
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 16 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 15 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 5
Total number of schools participating: 43, in 4 States
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 1,719
Total number of proposals received: 485
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 106
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 15
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 5
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 15 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 14 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 32
Total number of schools participating: 304, in 17 States, 2 Canadian Provinces, and Brazil
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 16,600
Total number of proposals received: 3,076
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 930
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 97
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 33
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 14 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 13 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 38
Total number of schools participating: 544, in 19 States, 2 Canadian Provinces, and Brazil
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 23,120
Total number of proposals received: 3,683
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 1,354
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 121
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 41
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 13 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 12 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 31
Total number of schools participating: 257, in 10 States, 2 Canadian Provinces, and Brazil
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 12,150
Total number of proposals received: 2,498
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 1,101
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 98
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 34
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 12 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 11 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 21
Total number of schools participating: 190, in 10 States and 2 Canadian Provinces
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 9,870
Total number of proposals received: 1,959
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 913
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 61
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 21
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 11 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 10 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 11
Total number of schools participating: 45, in 9 States
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 3,660
Total number of proposals received: 685
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 227
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 33
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 11
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 10 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 9 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 21
Total number of schools participating: 106, in 14 States and 2 Canadian Provinces
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 11,890 (G5-12)
Total number of proposals received: 2,466
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 909
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 63
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 21
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 9 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 8 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 14
Total number of schools participating: 93, in 8 States and 2 Canadian Provinces
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 3,290 (G5-16)
Total number of proposals received: 708
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 352
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 44
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 15 (one community flying two experiments)
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 8 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 7 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 24
Total number of schools participating: 179, in 18 States
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 10,760 (G5-12)
Total number of proposals received: 2,521
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 898
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 72
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 24
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 7 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 6 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 18
Total number of schools participating: 142, in 9 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 6,860 (G5-15)
Total number of proposals received: 1,487
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 748
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 54
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 18
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 6 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 5 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 15
Total number of schools participating: 96, in 11 States, and the District of Columbia
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 6,750 (G5-12)
Total number of proposals received: 1,344
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 485
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 45
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 15
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 5 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 4 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 11
Total number of schools participating: 112, in 7 States
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 3,080 (G5-12)
Total number of proposals received: 744
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 353
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 33
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 11
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 4 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 3 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 17
Total number of schools participating: 163, in 13 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 7,200 (G5-12)
Total number of proposals received: 1,466
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 441
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 51
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 17
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 3 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 2 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 11
Total number of schools participating: 72, in 9 States
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 3,930 (G5-12)
Total number of proposals received: 1,125
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 449
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 33
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 11
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 2 to ISS page
Data for SSEP Mission 1 to the International Space Station
Number of Participating Communities: 12
Total number of schools participating: 92, in 9 States and District of Columbia
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design: 3,490 (G5-14)
Total number of proposals received: 779
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 382
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 35
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 15 (includes 3 flight back-up experiments)
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: Mission 1 to ISS page
Data for SSEP on STS-135, the Final Flight of Atlantis
Number of Participating Communities: 11
Total number of schools participating: 48, in 10 States
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design (estimate): 2,100 (G5-12)
Total number of proposals received: 530
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 207
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 31
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 11
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: STS-135 page
Data for SSEP on STS-134, the Final Flight of Endeavour
Number of Participating Communities: 16
Total number of schools participating: 53, in 14 States
Total number of students ultimately engaged in experiment design (estimate): 1,800 (G5-14)
Total number of proposals received: 447
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 1 Review: 293
Total number of proposals submitted for Step 2 Review: 43
Total number of proposed experiments selected for flight: 16
Jump to Selected Experiments and Honorable Mentions: STS-134 page