Space Day at CCAC Featured NASA Astronaut Woody Hoburg Judging Ground Breaking Experiments for the SSEP Competition
NASA astronaut and Pittsburgh native Warren “Woody” Hoburg visited Pittsburgh to participate in CCAC’s first Space Day.
Three CCAC student experiments were selected to be reviewed by Student Spaceflight Experiments Program's national panel of experts.
CCAC hosted the college's first Space Day at Allegheny Campus on Nov. 7. NASA astronaut and Pittsburgh native Warren "Woody" Hoburg visited Pittsburgh to participate in the main event, the judging of the CCAC team experiments for the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP). He was also a special guest on campus for a presentation and Q&A discussion with students from area high schools earlier in the day.
Sponsored by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education in the U.S., and the Arthur C. Clark Institute for Space Education internationally, the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program invites students from selected colleges, universities, school districts and organizations worldwide to develop research experiments to promote space education. Of the 38 organizations participating from around the world, CCAC is one of only three two-year colleges invited to join the 2023 program. CCAC's contest is unique since it is open to all students, not just those studying the typical STEM fields.
Seven CCAC student teams presented experiments to Dr. Hoburg and a panel of science and space technology experts. The event kicked off at the CCAC Foerster Student Services Center (839 Ridge Ave), then individual team presentations and judging took place at the Moonshot Museum (Northside). Three CCAC student teams were chosen to send their experiments to a national review board assembled by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, which will then choose the winning CCAC project that will travel via SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station.
The three winning CCAC experiments are: "Microgravity-induced effects on the behavior and morphology of moon jellyfish," presented by Grace Lowe and Bailey Krimm; "Design and testing of a novel multi-axis microgravity simulator vs the real thing: a test case using the black mold K. chersonesos," presented by Aaron Stevens, Ajani Adegbindin, Matt Koepfer, Mamadou N'diaye and Anene Otubelu; and "Effect of Microgravity on the Enzymatic Degradation of Polyurethane by penicillium chrysogenum," presented by Faith Dunn, Maya Burns and Connor McDonagh.
A special "Spirit Award" was presented to the first team competing from a CCAC Skilled Trades program. CCAC students Quinn Blasch, Parker Cornelius and Curtis Lessman presented the experiment titled "The Effect Microgravity has on Concrete."