Pasco County School's Science Project Launches Into Space

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — A science experiment created by students at Wendell Krinn Technical High School, 7650 Orchid Lake Road, New Port Richey, was launched into space and now resides at the International Space Station.

The science experiment took to the skies Dec. 5 with the launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Mission 14 Dragon cargo spacecraft.

An all-girl team of students from Sarah Kumar’s biomedical science class entered a national flight experiment design competition with aspirations of seeing their work launched into space. The team’s experiment was selected from among thousands of submissions of real flight experiments created by students from around the nation.

The successful K-Tech submission explores the effects of microgravity on amoxicillin’s ability to kill the bacteria that causes staph infections—a critical concern for astronauts living within the close confines of the International Space Station. The team's experiment had its own compartment inside Dragon’s payload box to serve as a mini-lab, which the astronauts currently orbiting the Earth will test aboard the space station.

The STEM experience, which included a formal research project and a written proposal by the student team, mirrors the process that professional researchers have to follow in the real world.