St. Stanislaus Marine Science class chosen to participate in mission to Mars project | Schools

ST. STANISLAUS:

St. Stanislaus Marine Science students will have the unprecedented opportunity to engage in hands-on research with a team of university and government scientists working on NASA’s Mission to Mars project this year. There are a total of four schools participating in this project and St. Stanislaus is one of the two high schools selected from Mississippi. The other two schools are in Mobile, Alabama. 

Under the leadership of Dr. Scott Milroy, Assistant Professor of Marine Science at the University of Southern Mississippi, and Dr. Julie Cwikla, Director of the Center for Integrative Studies in Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CISSTEM) at the University of South Alabama, the SSC students will use specially designed incubators at Stennis Space Center to determine whether Antarctic algae could grow in a Martian environment. If successful, NASA astronauts will replicate the experiments on the International Space Station (ISS). Students’ findings will go on the ISS-Live! website and students will present their research at the Stennis Space Center spring conference. 

The St. Stanislaus students will participate in a series of brainstorming workshops and experiment workshops with the students from the other schools beginning in December on the campus of USM Gulf Coast. The students will help develop experimental designs that will potentially be used on the International Space Station.

St. Stanislaus junior Ford Lilly is excited about the upcoming work. He told his Marine Science teacher, Mrs. Letha Boudreaux, “This is one of the coolest things I’ve done in my entire life.”

The students will conduct research that will help answer the questions, “Can Antarctic algae, which live deep below the ice on one of the most inhospitable places on earth, possibly survive on Mars?  Could the introduction of a new species potentially affect the entire climate of the red planet?” The results of this study could have far reaching interplanetary implications.

About St. Stanislaus
St. Stanislaus, located in Bay St. Louis, MS, is a Catholic residency and day school for young men in grades seven through twelve. The school fosters character formation and integrates faith development within a curriculum that is primarily college preparatory. For more information on St. Stanislaus, please visit our website at www.ststan.com.

Information source: ST. STANISLAUS.