Programs

In the future, astronauts will use plants to provide food, oxygen, clean water and waste recycling while living on the Moon or on Mars. In this design challenge, K-12 students design and test plant growth chambers using space-flown seeds and can be seen here on the Challenger Center Lunar Design Showcase.

Check out our Webcasts with astronaut Barbara Morgan, NASA scientists and engineers in support of the design challenge! Click here for more information.

Join the Challenger Center for Space Science Education for the NASA K-12 Engineering Design Challenge and design a plant growth chamber for use by future astronauts living and working on the Moon. Participating teachers and students will receive space-flown basil seeds returned by Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan, the back up to Christa McAuliffe, the first Teacher in Space, for follow-on experiments with their mini-greenhouses.

Teachers and students who participate in the design challenge will receive a special certificate for their engineering design along with space-flown and control (non-flown) seeds for conducting scientific experiments. All submitted designs will be showcased on the Challenger Center for Space Science Education website and may be reviewed for further testing by a special panel of NASA scientists, astronauts and engineers.

Original designs should be submitted to one of the fifty Challenger Learning Centers across the country. Classrooms will also get their designs, and photos of their completed chambers showcased on the national Challenger Center website. Please send along with the design, the teacher's name, school, town, state and grade level.

To locate a Challenger Center near you, visit our list of Challenger Learning Centers.

Additional Information

For more information on Challenger Learning Center programs, please contact a Learning Center Coordinator via e-mail at info@challenger.org; by telephone at (877) 443-5701 or (816) 471-7770; or by completing the Feedback Form.