Additional Flight 2 Photos

Cynthia and Todd in Zero G!!!!!

Miami Mission Control Tours Johnson Space Center

TFS gave us an amazing tour of the Johnson Space Center: the National Buoyancy Lab, where astronauts train, and the Mission Control Center. NASA’s latest rover was also on display for the public. We aslo got to see the NASA team preparing for the final shuttle launch next week and working with the International Space Station. Awesome!

Whatta 'Bout the Worms?

You may be wondering what did the flight do to the worms?

We flew 2 separate loads - one group on Tuesday and another on Wednesday.

Each load had the following:

*40 larvae at instar 1 (baby worms - tiny, about 3 mm long)

*40 larvae at instar 4 (large worms - about 20 mm (2 cm) long)

*40 pupae (worms that have gone into the cocoon state)

Our ground control group of worms consisted of:

*80 larvae instar 1

*80 larvae instar 4

AFTER THE FLIGHT:

Upon landing we noticed all the larvae (worms) were very lethargic and looked dead.  Many of them were lying upside down and not moving.  After one day back on the ground we inspected all the specimens.  After gathering the observations we noticed a trend!  Surprisingly, the number of dead specimens was no different from the control group.  But, we did notice that the flight larvae/instar 4 had pupated (turned into cocoons) at a much slower rate than the ones that had NOT been flown.  The flight appears to have delayed the pupation time (time needed to turn into a cocoon).

(Above) A freshly formed pupa - the worm has begun making it's cocoon!

 This pupa above has been injured by the flight and is oozing some white fluid!

A larvae that is very lethargic after the flight!

What happens next?
We are really curious about the effects of the flight on the cocoons.  We think that the cocoons will not emerge with as many healthy moths as the control group.  We expect to see possible mutations and abnormalities as well.  The cocoons should have moths emerge in the next few days.

All 4 teachers experienced Zero-G and survived!

Cynthia and Todd completed their Zero Gravity experience and came back with smiles from ear to ear!  Happy to report not one of the Miami Mission Control Team members got sick on the flight and enjoyed every SECOND of it!  Here are some pictures of from the 2nd flight........

TRIP AND FLIGHT PICTURES SO FAR!

Please check out all of our trip pictures at the link below to our online album!

Miami Mission Control Team Pictures Link

Cynthia and Todd just took off.  Erin and I (Tom) we able to watch the plane lift off.  
We even got to feel a jet blast at a safe distance - turning around we felt the hot air engine blast!  Some people lost their hats and glasses across the field! 


More to come when Todd and Cynthia get back with all their exciting stories of the experience!

Video's from Zero G

check out some video clips from our adventure in Zero G!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtzBnwxbxIc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leq4bzTVzoU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy0MenWDET4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkPc6C9dzAQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1UpHfqV88E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Cl_BAcOO0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhVDfQtt75E - this one is really cool because you can see how VERTICAL the plane really was!  Go Mr. Gantt!

Flight 1 of 2 Complete!!!

Erin and Tom have just returned from the first of 2 flights the team will fly!!  Tom said the experience was a 25 on a scale of 1 to 10!!!  More info on this flight will follow...