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Rationale Q.What are we testing? A.A well-known rust-preventing enamel spray paint and how gravity affects its ability to protect an iron disk from an acidic liquid. Q.Why are we doing this experiment? A.Because limited resources that are vulnerable to rust must be protected in space. On earth, we must also do this, especially from acid rain. Graphic From: freestockimages.org

Method Volume 1 contains a well known Cola. Volume 2 contains two iron disks painted with enamel spray paint. Volume 3 contains polymer. Clamps separate the chemicals inside the tube so that the items can be mixed at a predetermined time. This is controlled by an astronaut. Mixture of the Cola with the disks will happen 5 days before departure from the ISS. The polymer will be released as a stop reaction 2 days prior to departure, absorbing the Cola.

Hurdles Choosing Project/Experiment Design Seeking inspiration. We used a previous SSEP experiment on a nail rusting (The Rate of Oxidation in a Microgravity Environment – SSEP Mission 2) Measuring Paint Thickness Paint Thickness Meter Micrometer Apparatus Choices After painting, finding iron disks that had comparable thickness (range and average based). Choice of polymer (chose more spherical type so it would move easier from one compartment into another). Collaboration Compromise Seeking first to understand before criticizing Which should we use?

Some of What We Learned We understand more about a possible way to prevent rust on the International Space Station and on earth. We learned team building skills such as being able to listen to each other’s ideas to have a better outcome. We learned basic chemistry and that the process of rusting is really complicated with its many steps. We need to be patient: There has been a lot of launch rescheduling due to a lot of testing to make sure that the rocket going into space is safe: Reliability is really important!

Most Difficult / Most Enjoyable Most Difficult-The most difficult part about this experiment was being able to work well with each other. Another difficult part was to summarize a poster board and present it to judges at a competition for Farmingdale STEP. Most Enjoyable- The most enjoyable part of the experiment was having the opportunity to compete in a nationwide competition. We also competed in a New York State competition. Thinking about how much this experiment can help us in life is an awesome thing. Not everyone can get a chance like this!

How Could We Improve Our Results If We Did This Again? First, we did not get our experiment back from the ISS yet, so we have not seen if there were any particular failures to focus on. If we had to redesign our experiment now, we would like to have more iron disks and different amounts of enamel paint on each disk. We would also like to have a way to get the disks totally covered with more Cola, which would then require more polymer to absorb it as well.

What Went Well? Coming up with many hypotheses through what knowledge of science, and technology we already possess. Assembling the project and understanding the fluid mixing enclosure. Our exposure to the International Space Station introduced us to the lab at the frontier of science.

Conclusion Still waiting for FME to be returned to the earth – conclusion yet to be made We will be comparing the paint thickness measurements we took of each disk (9 measurements on each of four disks, totaling 36 measurements before the exposure to the cola, with 36 measurements to be taken after return from the International Space Station)

Thank You! Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) National Center for Earth and Space Science Education Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Space Frontier Foundation Teachers in Space Nanoracks Farmingdale State College Parents Teachers of Wyandanch UFSD Many others that offered encouragement