NASA's Growing Beyond Earth program has been celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, with a significant milestone achieved in the past few days. Nearly 1,250 students from over 71 schools worldwide came together virtually to participate in the Growing Beyond Earth Student Launch Chat, bringing their experiments one step closer to influencing NASA's space food production research.
During the live session, students got an opportunity to interact directly with Dr. Gioia Massa and Trent M. Smith, senior leaders of NASA Kennedy Space Center's Space Crop Production team, who shed light on how classroom experiments are helping NASA identify the best crops for future astronauts on long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.
"It's incredibly motivating for our students to know that their data could influence what astronauts eat in space someday," said one participating teacher. The program has already seen over 120,000 students participate in the experiment across 800+ classrooms, testing more than 250 plant cultivars.
The Growing Beyond Earth project is a prime example of NASA's Science Activation (SciAct) program, which connects NASA science with people from all walks of life to activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond. By engaging students in cutting-edge research projects like this one, GBE not only advances NASA's goals but also cultivates curiosity, creativity, and confidence among the next generation of scientists and explorers.
As Dr. Massa mentioned, "When students see themselves as part of NASA's mission, they realize science isn't something distant; it's something they can do." With projects like GBE being supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NCCS2M0125, these students are indeed making a real difference in helping humanity prepare for life beyond Earth.
During the live session, students got an opportunity to interact directly with Dr. Gioia Massa and Trent M. Smith, senior leaders of NASA Kennedy Space Center's Space Crop Production team, who shed light on how classroom experiments are helping NASA identify the best crops for future astronauts on long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.
"It's incredibly motivating for our students to know that their data could influence what astronauts eat in space someday," said one participating teacher. The program has already seen over 120,000 students participate in the experiment across 800+ classrooms, testing more than 250 plant cultivars.
The Growing Beyond Earth project is a prime example of NASA's Science Activation (SciAct) program, which connects NASA science with people from all walks of life to activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond. By engaging students in cutting-edge research projects like this one, GBE not only advances NASA's goals but also cultivates curiosity, creativity, and confidence among the next generation of scientists and explorers.
As Dr. Massa mentioned, "When students see themselves as part of NASA's mission, they realize science isn't something distant; it's something they can do." With projects like GBE being supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NCCS2M0125, these students are indeed making a real difference in helping humanity prepare for life beyond Earth.
! I remember when the idea of space travel was still sci-fi, and now it's like a thing that could actually happen within our lifetime 
. The fact that students are getting involved in NASA's research, testing different crops for space missions, is truly inspiring 
. It's awesome to see how this program is bridging the gap between classroom learning and real-world applications – I mean, who wouldn't want to help figure out what astronauts eat in space? 
It just goes to show that even small actions can add up to make a big impact 
.
! I love how NASA's Growing Beyond Earth program is inspiring the next gen of scientists and explorers! It's literally changing the world one student experiment at a time 
. Can we talk about how cool it is that 120,000+ students have already participated in these experiments? That's like, whoa 
. Let's keep supporting projects like GBE and watch the world change in the most incredible ways! 
. Can't we have a live chat or video stream of the event instead of just posting about it? And what's with the 1-2 minute clip that gets posted every time? It feels like they're not even trying to be transparent about the actual content of the program 
. I mean, sure, it's great that students are participating and all that, but can't we get more depth into the research being done here? And why do we always have to wait for someone else to summarize what was said in a forum post? It feels so passive 
. Can we please just have a better platform design?