The first 4-H In Space: Mission Command Team of Space Ambassadors attended the Higher Orbits: Go For Launch! science program hosted at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in July 2022. Forty-eight 4-H teens from 4 states — Florida, Arizona, Illinois, and Indiana — worked in teams alongside space-industry professionals and astronaut Dr. JR Reilly to design their own experiments.
Experiments aimed to expand human knowledge of life in space, and tackle obstacles to expanding the boundaries of space travel – such as food. Agriculture was a major theme among the dozen experimental designs. The winning experiment “Growing Spirulina in Space” is slated to launch to the International Space Station National Lab in 2023 through the Higher Orbits program. Keep an eye open for launch details to be shared, just keep in mind launches and payloads are impacted by many factors; details are up in the air, until they’re literally in the air.