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DC Conference

Our student researchers presented their experience at the first ever SSEP Conference at the Smithsonian Institute National Air and Space Museum in early July. This is the power point presentation they shared.

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Diffraction

Thanks to the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University for the hour of beam time! During this time we were able to examine about half of the samples sent. This was better than we’d anticipated!

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Ground Truths

Another trip to the lab allowed us to collect and preserve crystals from the ground truth experiment grown in the mock MDA.

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Materials Return!

After a 16 day journey orbiting the earth at 14,500 mph, and a few days with FedEx, our materials were returned and we got out first looks at Dr. Gouaux’s lab.

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Launch: May 16, 2011

After a scrub on April 29, Endeavour launched into partly cloudy skies carrying our small vials of lysozyme/ citrate buffer and salt solution on Monday morning, May 16. Early in the day on the 17th the experiment was activated. This … Continue reading

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Scrubbed… April 29th Launch Attempt

We’d all met up in the parking lot in Merritt Island, Florida, met up with SSEP communities from across the country, put a face to Dr. Goldstein, caravanned out to the Kars Park viewing site and staked out our launch … Continue reading

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Flight Delay!!!

With 16 days left in our countdown NASA announced a ten day flight delay. Our materials are all measured out, packaged up and ready to go. We’ll hang on to them until the new materials submission date of April 19. … Continue reading

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Flight Concentrations Determined

After review of crystals grown so far, Celeste and Josie have selected a 2:1 ratio of lysozyme protein to citrate buffer. This means that in the 125mL of Well A there will be — ml/mg lysozyme protein and === ml … Continue reading

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Learning to Grow Protein Crystals

Enter Dr. Eric Gouaux of OHSU. Dr. Gouaux received the donated lysozyme, and he donated the other materials for the project. Dr. Gouaux has come to Jackson several times to coach us along in the lysozyme crystal growing process. Josie … Continue reading

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Materials Crisis!

It turns out urokinase is really expensive and hard to get. Josie and Celeste make an early morning call and find this out. Thanks so much to the folks at Sigma-Aldrich for taking on the task of finding an affordable … Continue reading

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The Student Space Flight Experiments Program [or SSEP] is undertaken by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE), a project of the 501(c)(3) Tides Center, in partnership with NanoRacks, LLC. This on-orbit educational research opportunity is enabled through NanoRacks, LLC, which is working in partnership with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.