​This amazing opportunity would not have been possible without community support. Ashford and Willington received $24,000 funding from the Connecticut Space Grant Consortium at The University of Hartford, Subaru USA, Eversource, The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, The Mobile Animal Clinic of Eastern Connecticut, Whitcraft, and TTM Technologies. Their support of this initiative has impacted students across multiple grade levels in both Ashford and Willington. And, thank you to Hart Seed, for providing the beetroot seeds that will be launched into Space.

In addition to the science experiment, Mrs Boulanger’s art students at Ashford School created mission patch designs to accompany the science experiment to the ISS. Over 370 students participated in the Ashford Mission Patch Design plan. Students were judged in two different categories: fifth grader Anna Burnham was selected from the 5-8 division and second grader Ellis Anderson was selected from the K-4 division. The two winning patch design display images of space, the Earth, and the Ashford’s mascot PAWS. 

​The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S. and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with DreamUp PBC and NanoRacks LLC, which are working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre- college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture. 

Image Credit: Fox 61

Students used a special Amateur Radio to make a direct contact. The National Association for Amateur Radio (AARL) helped provide and set up the equipment. Joe Carcia, Kris Bickell, Ally Riedel,  David Isgur, and Michelle Patnode all came for the big day to help facilitate the contact.

In addition to our ARRL radio representatives, several members of the Eastern Connecticut Amateur Radio Association (ECASA) also came to lead the contact. Bernard served as the main contact, and Ryan and Joe were also on hand leading the contact.  

They set up a giant antenna system outside so that the signal would reach. They also projected ISS tracking software behind the radio for students to see:

In addition to our whole school population, the following news stations came to experience the contact as well! They recorded the contact and interviewed students on their thoughts afterwards. Check it out: 

Fox 61: https:/fox61.com/2018/10/22/ashford-students-talk-with-astronauts-in-the-space-station/
WFSB: https://www.wfsb.com/news/ashford-students-get-opportunity-to-chat-with-astronaut/article_84a71100-d625-11e8-b8d1-2b8b4e6b48df.html
WTNH: ​https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/windham/ashford-students-speak-with-astronaut-in-international-space-station/1541735276

We are so incredibly grateful to ARISS, ECARA, and ARRL for making this possible for the entire Ashford School community. Our students were literally bursting with excitement at the end of the contact, and many staff members were driven to tears over the wonder they felt during this contact. We even heard many students exclaiming that they wanted to be astronauts as they headed out of the cafeteria and onto the rest of their school day.  Look out universe- here comes the Mars Generation! 

To learn more about the ARISS program, please visit: http://www.ariss.org/

To learn more about AARL, please visit: http://www.arrl.org/home

To learn more about ECARA, please visit: http://www.ecara.net/

This week students at Ashford School prepared to be part of the Mars Generation. Thanks to a generous donation from Buzz Aldrin's ShareSpace Foundation, our school now has a Giant Mars Map which is great for exploring, programming robots, practicing mapping skills, and preparing for life on Mars. 

We had an OUT OF THIS WORLD experience this morning as we watched our experiment launch on the SR-5 sounding rocket out of NASA Wallops this morning! It was early (the rocket took off at 5:30 AM) but NASA Wallops Visitor Center was full of activity and excitement! ​

Ashford students arrived at 4:45 AM to get seats and waited eagerly for the launch to begin:

We are looking forward to learning more about the results of our experiment in the next few weeks! What a fantastic learning opportunity for us all- thanks again to Amber, Richard, and everyone on the iDoodle/Cubes in Space Team for making it all happen! 

At Ashford School we aren't growing just any tomatoes. We're growing tomatoes from seeds that flew on the International Space Station to compare to our control earth tomatoes. Do you think that space flight will change how our seeds grow into plants? We can't wait to find out. To learn more and find out how you can get Space Tomato Seeds for your classroom check out: tomatosphere.org