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By NASA
Explore This Section Science NASA STEM Projects NASA Interns Conduct Aerospace… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 3 min read
NASA Interns Conduct Aerospace Research in Microgravity
The NASA Science Activation program’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Enhancement in Earth Science (SEES) Summer Intern Program, hosted by the University of Texas Center for Space Research, continues to expand opportunities for high school students to engage in authentic spaceflight research. As part of the SEES Microgravity Research initiative, four interns were selected to fly with their experiments in microgravity aboard the ZERO-G parabolic aircraft. The students had 11 minutes of weightlessness over 30 parabolas in which to conduct their experiments.
This immersive experience was made possible through a collaboration between SEES, Space for Teachers, the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, and the International Space Station National Laboratory (CASIS). Together, these partners provide students with access to industry-aligned training and direct experience in aerospace experiment design, testing, and integration.
Congratulations to the 2025 SEES Microgravity Research Team:
Charlee Chandler, 11th grade, Rehobeth High School (Dothan, AL): Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) and Vestibular-Ocular Reflex (VOR) in Microgravity Aya Elamrani-Zerifi, 11th grade, Hereford High School (Parkton, MD): Thermocapillary-Induced Bubble Dynamics Lily Myers, 12th grade, Eastlake High School (Sammamish, WA): Propellant Slosh Damping Using Polyurethane Foam Nathan Scalf 11th grade, Lexington Christian Academy (Lexington, KY): Wound Irrigation System for Microgravity Selected from nearly 100 proposals submitted by 2024 SEES interns, these four students spent months preparing for flight through weekly technical mentorship and structured milestones. Their training included proposal development, design reviews, safety assessments, hardware testing, and a full payload integration process, working through engineering protocols aligned with industry and mission standards.
In addition to their individual experiments, the students also supported the flight of 12 team-designed experiments integrated into the ZQube platform, a compact research carrier co-developed by Twiggs Space Lab, Space for Teachers, and NASA SEES. The ZQube enables over 150 SEES interns from across the country to contribute to microgravity investigations. Each autonomous experiment includes onboard sensors, cameras, and transparent test chambers, returning valuable video and sensor data for post-flight analysis.
This microgravity research opportunity supports the broader SEES mission to prepare students for careers in aerospace, spaceflight engineering, and scientific research. Through direct engagement with NASA scientists, academic mentors, and commercial aerospace experts, students gain real-world insight into systems engineering and the technical disciplines needed in today’s space industry.
The SEES summer intern program is a nationally competitive STEM experience for 10th-11th grade high school students. Interns learn how to interpret NASA satellite data while working with scientists and engineers in their chosen area of work, including astronomy, remote sensing, and space geodetic techniques to help understand Earth systems, natural hazards, and climate. It is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNH15ZDA004C and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn/about-science-activation/
Nathan Scalf, one of four NASA SEES interns, from Lexington KY, tests his Wound Irrigation System for Microgravity experiment aboard the ZERO-G G-FORCE ONE® in May 2025. Steve Boxall, ZERO-G Share
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Last Updated May 27, 2025 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Related Terms
Biological & Physical Sciences Earth Science Internships NASA STEM Projects Opportunities For Students to Get Involved Planetary Science Science Activation Explore More
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By NASA
Editor’s Note: The following is one of three related articles about the NASA Data Acquisition System and related efforts. Please visit Stennis News – NASA to access accompanying articles.
NASA software engineer Brandon Carver updates how the main data acquisition software processes information at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, where he has contributed to the creation of the center’s first-ever open-source software.NASA/Danny Nowlin Syncom Space Services software engineer Shane Cravens, the chief architect behind the first-ever open-source software at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, verifies operation of the site’s data acquisition hardware.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, has released its first-ever open-source software, a peer review tool to facilitate more efficient and collaborative creation of systems applications, such as those used in its frontline government and commercial propulsion test work.
“Everyone knows NASA Stennis as the nation’s premier rocket propulsion test site,” said David Carver, acting chief of the Office of Test Data and Information Management. “We also are engaged in a range of key technology efforts. This latest open-source tool is an exciting example of that work, and one we anticipate will have a positive and widespread impact.”
The new NASA Data Acquisition System Peer Review Tool was developed over several years, built on lessons learned as site developers and engineers created software tools for use across the center’s sprawling test complex. It is designed to simplify and amplify the collaborative review process, allowing developers to build better and more effective software applications.
The new NASA Stennis Peer Review tool was developed using the same software processes that built NDAS. As center engineers and developers created software to monitor and analyze data from rocket propulsion tests, they collaborated with peers to optimize system efficiency. What began as an internal review process ultimately evolved into the open-source code now available to the public.
“We refined it (the peer review tool) over a period of time, and it has improved our process significantly,” said Brandon Carver (no relation), a NASA Stennis software engineer. “In early efforts, we were doing reviews manually, now our tool handles some of these steps for us. It has allowed us to focus more on reviewing key items in our software.”
Developers can improve time, efficiency, and address issues earlier when conducting software code reviews. The result is a better, more productive product.
The NASA Stennis tool is part of the larger NASA Data Acquisition System created at the center to help monitor and collect propulsion test data. It is designed to work with National Instruments LabVIEW, which is widely used by systems engineers and scientists to design applications. LabVIEW is unique in using graphics (visible icon objects) instead of a text-based programming language to create applications. The graphical approach makes it more challenging to compare codes in a review process.
“You cannot compare your code in the same way you do with a text-based language,” Brandon Carver said. “Our tool offers a process that allows developers to review these LabVIEW-developed programs and to focus more time on reviewing actual code updates.”
LabVIEW features a comparison tool, but NASA Stennis engineers identified ways they could improve the process, including by automating certain steps. The NASA Stennis tool makes it easier to post comments, pictures, and other elements in an online peer review to make discussions more effective.
The result is what NASA Stennis developers hope is a more streamlined, efficient process. “It really optimizes your time and provides everything you need to focus on right in front of you,” Brandon Carver said. “That’s why we wanted to open source this because when we were building the tool, we did not see anything like it, or we did not see anything that had features that we have.”
“By providing it to the open-source community, they can take our tool, find better ways of handling things, and refine it,” Brandon Carver said. “We want to allow those groups to modify it and become a community around the tool, so it is continuously improved. Ultimately, a peer review is to make stronger software or a stronger product and that is also true for this peer review tool.
“It is a good feeling to be part of the process and to see something created at the center now out in the larger world across the agency,” Brandon Carver said. “It is pretty exciting to be able to say that you can go get this software we have written and used,” he acknowledged. “NASA engineers have done this. I hope we continue to do it.”
To access the peer review tool developed at NASA Stennis, visit NASA GitHub.
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Last Updated May 08, 2025 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
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