Nearly 1,250 middle and high school students from 71 schools around the world joined Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden for the Growing Beyond Earth (GBE) Student Launch Chat with the Scientists, marking an inspiring milestone in the program\u2019s 10th anniversary year.<\/p>\n
The live session, held in collaboration with NASA, connected classrooms directly with Dr. Gioia Massa and Trent M. Smith, senior leaders of NASA Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Space Crop Production team. Students heard firsthand how their classroom experiments are helping NASA identify and grow the best crops for future astronauts on long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur students are contributing to real NASA science,\u201d said one participating teacher. \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly motivating for them to know their data could influence what astronauts eat in space someday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Growing Beyond Earth<\/a>, led by Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, Florida, brings authentic NASA research into classrooms in a way that few science programs can. For more than a decade, the 83-acre botanic garden \u2013 renowned for its conservation, education, and research programs \u2013 has worked hand-in-hand with NASA to advance understanding of food production in space.<\/p>\n Students use specially designed plant growth chambers to test how different crops perform under conditions that mimic spacecraft environments. The data they collect are shared with NASA scientists, who use the findings to refine ongoing space crop production research.<\/p>\n Since the program\u2019s inception, more than 120,000 students across 800+ classrooms have tested over 250 plant cultivars, with five student-tested crops already grown aboard the International Space Station.<\/p>\n The Growing Beyond Earth project exemplifies the mission of NASA\u2019s Science Activation (SciAct) program, which connects NASA Science with people of all ages and backgrounds in ways that activate minds and promote a deeper understanding of our world and beyond, with the ultimate Vision: To increase learners\u2019 active participation in the advancement of human knowledge. By engaging students as active participants in cutting-edge research, projects like GBE not only advance NASA\u2019s goals but also cultivate curiosity, creativity, and confidence in the next generation of scientists and explorers. This year\u2019s GBE Student Launch Chat celebrated that impact, showing how student research from classrooms around the globe contributes to the future of space exploration.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen students see themselves as part of NASA\u2019s mission, they realize science isn\u2019t something distant, it\u2019s something they can do,\u201d said Dr. Massa. Teacher Espy Rodriguez from Hialeah Senior High School said, “It made their [her students] projects matter. I think it gave the kids a real sense of community. We are far, but we are one.” By growing plants, analyzing data, and sharing results with NASA, these students are helping humanity prepare for life beyond Earth, proving that the seeds of tomorrow\u2019s discoveries are being planted in today\u2019s classrooms.<\/p>\n GBE is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NCCS2M0125 and is part of NASA\u2019s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/learn\/about-science-activation\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n