Students Send Microbe Experiment on Space Shuttle Atlantis

HOUSTON, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An experiment by college students
that will study how microbes grow in microgravity is heading to orbit aboard
space shuttle Atlantis.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO)

Undergraduate and graduate students at Texas Southern University in Houston
developed the experiment that will fly as part of the STS-129 mission. The
mission is scheduled to launch at 2:28 p.m. EST on Nov. 16 from NASA's Kennedy
Space Center in Florida.

"I'm thrilled that giving students the chance to design and research an
experiment to fly in space is one of the tools we have at NASA to engage them
in science, technology, engineering and mathematics," NASA Deputy
Administrator Lori B. Garver said." These young people are our future, and
providing an opportunity to inspire them is a major part of our mission at
NASA."

NASA's Office of Education selected Texas Southern University as a 2008
University Research Center. Texas Southern established a Center for
Bionanotechnology and Environmental Research. Students at the center developed
the Microbial-1 experiment to evaluate the morphological and molecular changes
in E. coli and B. subtilis bacteria.

"The University Research Center Project is designed to enhance the research
infrastructure and capacity at minority institutions," said Katrina Emery,
NASA's University Research Center project manager at the agency's Dryden
Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. "By engaging in participatory
learning opportunities like this experiment, students can see themselves as
researchers, now and in the future."

This space shuttle flight experiment is a proof-of-concept model for the URC
project to give students hands-on experience. The experiment provides the
university students the opportunity to design, monitor and execute the study
in laboratories, as well as near real-time on the space shuttle. Each
component of the experiment is designed for easy reproduction in the
classroom, providing a valuable experience to students.

"This is an amazing opportunity for our students, and it reflects the growing
quality of our research programs at Texas Southern," said John M. Rudley,
president of Texas Southern University. "We are excited our students have the
opportunity to participate in such relevant research. We are also pleased that
with our partnerships with area school districts, we are able to take these
projects beyond the university to the school classrooms to encourage more
students to study science, math, and technology."

The unique experimental data will be used to develop grade-appropriate
microbiology modules for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Data
downloaded from NASA's Payload Operations and Control Center will be available
on the research center's Web site. In addition, educators will receive a
teacher's guidebook featuring background information, lesson plans and student
activities for conducting this project in their classrooms. BioServe Space
Technologies at the University of Colorado is providing management support and
hardware for the experiment.

Texas Southern University is one of 13 universities to receive grant funding
from NASA's University Research Center project. The project is designed to
enhance the research capabilities of minority-serving institutions and
increase the production of underrepresented and underserved students majoring
in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.

For information about NASA education programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/education

For information about Texas Southern University's Center for Bionanotechnology
and Environmental Research, visit: http://www.tsu.edu/pages/3611.asp

NASA's Digital Learning Network will host a launch day webcast Nov. 16
beginning at 1:28 p.m. EST and culminating with liftoff. The webcast will
feature a discussion about the Microbial-1 experiment. Watch online at:
http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/content/webcast

For information about the STS-129 mission to the International Space Station,
visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

SOURCE NASA

Stephanie Schierholz of NASA Headquarters, Washington, +1-202-358-4997,
stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov, Ruth Dasso Marlaire of NASA's Ames Research
Center, Moffett Field, Calif., +1-650-604-4709, ruth.marlaire@nasa.gov, or Eva
Pickens of Texas Southern University, Houston, +1-713-313-4205,
pickens_ek@tsu.edu