SSEP on STS-134: Final Flight of Shuttle Endeavour


STS-134 Flight Data

Mission Number: STS-134
Orbiter: Endeavour
Launch Date: 8:56 am EDT, May 16, 2011
Landing Date: 2:34 am EDT, June 1, 2011
Launch Pad: 39A
Mission Duration: 16 days
Primary Payload: EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 3, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

Notable: final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour; 36th flight to International Space Station

Crew: Mark Kelly, commander; Gregory H. Johnson, pilot; and mission specialists: Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency’s Roberto Vittori.

Visit the NASA STS-134 webpage


SSEP on STS-134 Payload and Program Data

Payload Designation: SSEP1 – Eagle (named for Apollo 11 Lunar Module)
Number of Student Experiments: 16
Payload: Materials Dispersion Apparatus Mini-Laboratory (MDA)
Stowage: Crew Cabin mid-deck locker

History: 
The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education issued the first Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) national Announcement of Opportunity in June 2010.

As a result, 16 communities across the U.S. joined SSEP, providing 19,700 grade 5-14 students, across 53 schools, the opportunity to design and propose real experiments to fly aboard Shuttle Endeavour. Student teams submitted 447 proposals, from which 16 were selected to fly aboard STS-134—one for each community. Visit the SSEP Community Network Hubsite for the list of winning proposals, profiles of the participating communities, the SSEP In the News page, and thoughts on program impact from students, teachers, and administrators on the In Our Own Words page.

Current Status:
SSEP operations for STS-134 have now been completed; Student Teams reported preliminary results at the SSEP National Conference, held July 6-7, 2011, at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC (see the 2011 SSEP National Conference page). Visit the SSEP on STS-134 Scientific Return and Reporting page for videos of conference oral presentations.

List of SSEP on STS-134 Subpages:
STS-134 Critical Timeline
STS-134 Mini-Laboratory Operation
STS-134 Fluid/Sample Compatibility Test
STS-134 Submission of Experiment Samples for Flight
STS-134 Harvesting of Experiment Samples
Launch Plans for STS-134

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.