ferrofluids experiment are beautiful and artistic and help bridge science and the arts. A better
and more consistent method of electroplating could result in the start of a new commercial
space plating industry that would result in more jobs and plating applications. A similar and
larger automated plant growth design could be used to grow plants in any area of a home,
including the basement and attic, reducing the amount of land required to provide food for the
world’s rapidly increasing human population.SPACE BENEFITS
In order to ensure crew health during
spaceflight and long-duration missions, an
understanding of how bacteria behave in
microgravity leads to better prevention and
treatment of infections. Understanding
ferrofluids is also important because if they
can be moved by the application of a magnetic
field, they could be made part of a restartable
space liquid propulsion system that would be
moved toward the nozzle before ignition. This
would eliminate the need to have heavy liquid
containment screens within the propellant
tanks. Electroplating is also of importance
because if it is determined that electroplating in space produces more consistent plating than
plating on the ground, this could result in the start of a new commercial space plating industry.
Lastly, if crew members are going to travel to Mars, and they do not have sufficient room to
take all the food required for the 3-year trip, they will have to grow some of their food aboard
the space vehicle. Research is required to determine the best method to provide an automated
plant growth system.RESULTS
A total of 4 teams consisting of 38 Valley Christian High School Students were given a NanoLab
to house its microgravity science experiment in. Each team was responsible for selecting,
designing, building, programming, and testing its own investigation.This investigation is complete and all results are published.NanoRacks-Valley Christian High School-Electroplating
Experiment Ground Test Unit. Valley Christian High
School image.