ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. – A science experiment designed by students at Central Alabama Community College has arrived at the International Space Station as part of Mission 20 of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.
SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft, capsule C211, launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., at 5:33 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13. At about 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, Dragon docked with the station, delivering thousands of pounds of supplies and experiments, including the Central Alabama Community College students’ project.
The experiment will examine how radish seeds germinate and develop roots in microgravity. It was selected from 15 proposals developed by 52 students beginning in January 2025.
Former Central Alabama Community College students Noah White, Allie Scott, Benton Stegall, Gracie Deason, and Adeline Benton designed the experiment. Preparing it for flight required a year of refining the design to fit a ten-milliliter flexible tube and determining the amounts of growing medium, water, and formalin needed to support germination and preserve samples.
Quin Shakra of The Plant Good Seed Company in Ojai, Cali., provided technical guidance, help with spaceflight documentation, and Pink Beauty Radish seeds.
“I never imagined I would get to say that I sent radishes to space!” said Scott, now a student at Auburn University’s Harrison College of Pharmacy.
Central Alabama Community College Chemistry Instructor Jeremy M. Carr, the project’s local director, called the experiment a significant accomplishment for the institution of higher learning.
Astronauts will conduct the experiment aboard the station using a schedule developed by the students. After the samples return to Earth in the coming weeks, students will analyze them and compare results with an identical experiment on Earth.
The comparison will help determine how microgravity affects radish seed germination and root development.
Central Alabama Community College President Jeff Lynn said the project reflects the college’s effort to extend learning beyond the classroom through real-world research.
