Students, professor design experiment for space station
VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) - A small box, filled with wires and lights, a battery and tubes soon will be making its way into outer space.
The box, and the experiment it contains, was designed by Valparaiso High School juniors Merrick Jakelski and Connor Gregg, both 17.
If the experiment confirms what the two hope, it could lead to one of the first preventative treatments for Alzheimer's disease.
For both young men, the fight against Alzheimer's is personal. Both have had close family members battle the disease.
"No one should have to watch a loved one go through this," said Gregg, son of Tammy and Matthew Gregg.
Jakelski and Gregg are working under the direction of Calumet College of St. Joseph professor Sandra Rogers. Rogers' project was chosen nearly two years ago to be part of a Center for the Advancement of Science in Space program.
Jakelski said he joined Rogers' team more than a year ago. Gregg joined about six months ago after several team members graduated or left. The two have been completing the design and module - which will travel to the International Space Station - inside the high school's engineering classroom.
Jakelski said the experiment will look at the effects of microgravity on peptides (proteins in the brain), which, when they begin to break down, have an effect on memory.
Rogers' hypothesis is that microgravity will slow or stop the collapsing of the peptides, thus slowing or stopping the progression of Alzheimer's disease, Jakelski said.
In about two weeks, the two will take the experiment, which measures 10 by 10 by 15 centimeters, to Nanoracks Space Center in Houston for functional testing, Gregg said. Then in February, it will be launched aboard the SpaceX 14, a commercial resupply rocket to the space station. Once powered-up, it will run experiments for 28 days and then be returned about a month after its launch.
The students and their teacher, Tarik El-Naggar, department chairman for engineering technology, will be there for the launch.
Once the module is back in local hands, they will retrieve data and compare it with a sister module that will be running simultaneously, but on earth. The data will be turned over to Rogers, Gregg said.
Both Jakelski and Gregg said they are excited about being able to participate in the project.
"We really enjoy working on it," said Jakelski who will likely attend Purdue University to study electrical engineering or robotics.
Gregg will attend either Georgetown University or the U.S. Military Academy.
"I want to work to make life better for everyone," said Gregg, adding he wants to follow the path of both his teacher, El-Naggar, and businessman Elon Musk.
"If there's a problem, I want to be able to find the solution," Gregg said.
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Source: The (Northwest Indiana) Times
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Information from: The Times, http://www.nwitimes.com