Rebecca Frost and Sofia Barrueco Lopez
Dankmeyer CPO Rebecca Frost recently had the opportunity to work with local high school sophomore Sofia Barrueco Lopez on her “Cubes in Space” (CiS) project.
Sofia was inspired to participate in this extra-curricular program from the website "Cubes in Space". This is the only global STEM program for 11-18 year olds providing suborbital flight project opportunities on NASA missions. The students pick a project focus and get the opportunity to send their project, packaged in a cube, on a suborbital rocket launched by NASA.
Sophia decided to study how radiation exposure during the space launch will impact the materials used to make prostheses, specifically to see if the materials become harmful. She came to Dankmeyer for the day on May 30 to see the fabrication and clinical processes as well as to collect and shape the materials to fit into the designated 1”x1” cube. Dankmeyer staff was very excited to learn about her project, and provide assistance to put prosthesis parts in the launch!
There is an article about the program on NASA’s Wallops website. (Click here.) It states, “Students develop and design their unique experiments to fit into clear, rigid plastic payload cubes, each about 1.5 inches on a side. Up to 80 of these unique student experiments are integrated into the nose cone of the rocket.”
The rocket launch occurred on 6/20 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, VA. The payload (including Sofia’s cube!) was successfully returned to Earth. Sofia will analyze the results of her experiment with Dr. Cynthia Tope Niedermaier's group and their Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer. This rocket’s flight path was suborbital, but depending on the results of the experiment, Sofia’s project may be selected for a future NASA project that will go into orbit.
We look forward to hearing Sofia’s report on the outcome of her experiment! - Rebecca Frost, CPO.