24 Feb 2025
A select group of STEM students helped Magnitude.io out with an extra-terrestrial experiment with potentially global ramifications late last term.
The premise of the ExoLab-11 experiment is to investigate the effects of microgravity on living things. Magnitude.io achieved this by distributing ExoLabs to schools, science centres, libraries and museums around the world to create a control. Perhaps most importantly, ExoLabs were sent to the International Space Station where the effects of microgravity on plants could be analysed closely.
The Exolab devices tracked the growth of Medicago trunculata (barrel media or barrel clover) and measured light, humidity, carbon dioxide and temperature. They have built in light sources and their cameras photograph the plants every hour.
The Magnitude.io plants launched on 5 November 2024 and stayed in orbit for 30 days. The results from the experiment have been collated by Purdue University and are currently being analysed.
“We were the only NSW DoE school involved with ExoLabs-11,” beams Ian Preston, Deputy Principal of MASE, “This highlights the significant STEM opportunities that are available to students through the Murrumbidgee Academy of STEM Excellence.”
