Engineering Students Send Experiment to International Space Station

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When aerospace engineering student Michael Snyder was just 6 years old, his dream was to be an astronautical engineer and send something he built or worked on into space.

Now earning his master’s degree, Snyder has seen his wish come true.

Snyder and aeronautical and astronautical engineering student Stephen Levine, a junior, worked with faculty members to finalize a chemical experiment that was launched aboard a Japanese space vehicle and docked at the International Space Station Jan. 27. On Feb. 21, space station Cmdr. Scott Kelly activated the experiment, which returned to Earthaboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in March.

“It was a surreal moment watching the launch live, knowing that an experiment I was involved in and built was up there finally, after 18 years of desiring it. Stephen and I worked very hard at finalizing the design and building and testing the experiment,” Snyder says. 

Belcan Corp., a Cincinnati engineering company, underwrote the $25,000 project cost and provided technical expertise on the experiment’s design. The experiment traveled to space in a CubeLab, a 10-cm cubic container produced by NanoRacks, a Houston-based company. NanoRacks connected with Ohio State via Belcan’s Advanced Technology Division president Phil Combs, an aerospace engineering alumnus and strong supporter of the college’s aerospace engineering activities.The experiment is focused on isolating the effect of microgravity on the growth of ceria nanoparticles. Ceria (CeO2) is used as a support or catalyst in many technologically important reactions, such as high-temperature coatings for jet engines, solid oxide fuel cells for next-generation automobiles, and emissions abatement. Snyder and Levine are advised by chemical and biomolecular engineering Professor Umit Ozkan and Burcu Mirkelamoglu, a research associate, on the experiment, which will contribute information on whether reduced gravity leads to a higher level of performance for the catalyst.

“This unique opportunity enabled the students to apply what they have learned; work with the launch integrator, NanoRacks, and NASA; and gain valuable, practical experience,” says Jim Smith, Belcan corporate chief engineer. “This success lays the foundation for future cooperative efforts where we can continue to utilize Belcan’s expertise to enhance the educational experience for the OSU community.”

The experiment required mixing of cerium nitrate and sodium hydroxide solutions, which then combined to grow crystals over time until the solution reached equilibrium. Snyder and NanoRacks chief technology officer Michael Johnson came up with the idea to place the cerium solution in a plastic capsule inside a Teflon tube that contained the sodium hydroxide solution. Both were then surrounded in three levels of containment in 24 cylindrical-shaped sticks containing different mixes of the solution.

Kelly performed the experiment by bending the sticks, similar to the way in which common glow sticks are activated, to break the inner cerium capsule and mix the solutions. He then returned the sticks to the CubeLab, where the crystals grew until the experiment was returned to Ohio State, where it awaits analysis by the William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

Category: Students