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Growing Beyond Earth is a 6th-12th grade classroom-based citizen science project developed by Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in partnership with scientists at NASA, designed to advance NASA research on growing plants in space. It includes a series of plant experiments conducted by students in a Fairchild-designed plant habitat similar to the Vegetable Production System (Veggie) on the International Space Station.
On November 18th, 2023, South Florida High School student, Leonardo Ravelo, was awarded the 2023 American Society of Gravitational Space Research (ASGSR) Inspiration Scholarship: Laurence Davin and Norman Lewis Prize during the annual ASGSR Annual Conference for his work with the Growing Beyond Earth project. Leo is an 11th grader at iMater Academy in Hialeah, Florida. Since his freshman year, he and his classmates and teacher, Dr. Monique Salazar, worked together to design and build a clinostat (random positioning machine) that would allow them to grow plants in simulated microgravity.
An amazing accomplishment for Leo! Congratulations to Leo and the Growing Beyond Earth Citizen Science project!
The Growing Beyond Earth project is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NSSC22MO125 and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio.
