N. Sumatra High School Students' Research Goes To NASA

Image: Twitter/@imanlagi

As the proverb says, 'Aim for the stars, if you fail, you (or your research) will land in International Space Station'.

Students from SMA Unggul Del and Del Institute of Technology of Toba Samosir District, North Sumatra, get a rare chance to do a research at NASAs International Space Station.

The research team is mentored by SMA Unggul Del teacher Ari Raharja and Del Institute of Technology lecturer Eka Trisno Samosir. The team consists often high school students and two institute students namely Afner Sirait, Arico Liberty Setiawan Sembiring, Oliver Danofan Nainggolan, Rejoel Mangasa Siagian, Matthew Addrian Silalahi, Ronald Simatupang, Ruth Johana Hutagalung, Stanley Martin Siagian, Putry Yosefa Siboro and Theodora Mega Putri Lumban Gaol.

The students had to go through several tests including academic selection, interview in English and presentation of their motivation to join the ISS Project 2 team. After being selected, the ten students were grouped into four categories: science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and programming. The grouping referred to the grouping system on ISS Project 1, similar project the schools did last year.

The students come from various backgrounds, though mostly are local residents.

One of the students, Matthew, reportedly comes from Sosa, a remote village in North Sumatera, and his father is an ice-cube seller. This proves that none can be limited by family background when they want to work hard.

ISS Project 2 is a continuation of ISS Project 1 thatwas formed in July 2015 where experimental package on yeast fermentation was successfully sent to International Space Station (ISS) on April 2016.

On June 2016, ISS Projects data analysis concluded that yeast fermentation process can occur in near-zero gravitational conditions.

Rocket Falcon 9 SpaceX CRS-11 Dragon glided on June 4, 2017, taking SMA Unggul Dels research into the space. Their research will be conductedISS for 30 days.

The experimental process will be monitored using installed camera and sensor. The data will be sent to the Earth thrice a week in form of digital images, temperature, humidity, voltage, current and so on.

The research is titled The Fermentation of Soybeans in Microgravity Experiment. Their aim is to analyze the fermentation process on the seeds of soybeans known as tempeh.

(brl/red)