06/12/2026
Last month, a research experiment developed by two CCAC students was launched to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket docked with the station on May 17, bringing the CCAC project and other research investigations through the stars and to the orbiting laboratory. ✨
The experiment, titled “The Effects of Microgravity on the Quantitative Measurements of Calcite Crystals,” was created by CCAC students Arianna Swearman and Ashley Pfeffercorn under the mentorship of John Float, associate professor of mathematics. It was selected through the 2025 SSEP Mission 19 competition.
The project was designed to study how microgravity affects calcite structures in the inner ear known as otoconia, which help the body maintain posture, balance and spatial orientation. The research is connected to questions about how astronauts may experience disorientation or vertigo during extended space missions.
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program gives students the opportunity to design research projects for microgravity conditions and compete for a chance to send an experiment to the International Space Station.
CCAC first participated in the program in 2022, when students Jason Gomes and Daniel Roth were selected as part of Mission 17 with a cancer-focused experiment launched in 2023. The college’s second SSEP flight experiment, launched in 2024, studied how microgravity affects the ability of enzymes produced by Penicillium chrysogenum to degrade polyurethane, a commonly used plastic.
For more information on SSEP and Mission 19, visit the link below.
https://bit.ly/49Roq8N
Photos provided by NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration.