International Space Station Citizen Science LogoProject MERCCURI

Examining the diversity of microbes on Earth and on the International Space Station.

Project MERCCURI! (pronounced just like the planet and first US manned space program) MERCCURI stands for: Microbial Ecology Research Combining Citizen and University Researchers on ISS (the International Space Station!). Learn all about this citizen science research project at SpaceMicrobes.org !

Project Status

(updated 2/11/14)

-Collect/identify microbes to go to the ISS (DONE, See candidates here)

-Microbes will fly to the ISS and grow in microgravity (LAUNCH DATE: 3/16/14)

-Collect microbes from the ISS for analysis on earth (PENDING LAUNCH)

-Collect/analyze 4000 cell phone/shoe samples (IN PROGRESS, ~2000 to date)

-Visualize cell phone/shoe data for pubic (MAP COMING SOON, INTERACTIVE DATA VISUALIZATION TO FOLLOW)

-Generate educational materials for classrooms (COMING SOON)

 

If you'd like to learn more, here’s a link to the first announcement we posted:
http://www.spaceflorida.gov/news/2012/11/29/space-florida-announces-iss-research-competition-winners-at-asgsr

And here’s a link to the proposal we submitted to Space Florida and NanoRacks, LLC:
http://www.sciencecheerleader.com/science-cheerleader-scistarter-ucdavis-citizen-science-proposal-for-the-iss/