ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Three Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College students in Asheville, N.C., developed an experiment that is heading to the International Space Station after launching aboard a SpaceX rocket Tuesday, with research that could help astronauts keep critical spacecraft equipment running.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 6:33 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying a Dragon spacecraft loaded with more than 6,300 pounds of supplies and science equipment, according to NASA. A-B Tech project is part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, which includes experiments from 21 colleges.
Student Curtis Epley, who is studying diesel and heavy equipment technology, led the experiment testing how lubricating oils behave in microgravity, aiming to give astronauts more options for lubricating engines, pipes and other moving parts in space. Chemistry instructor Evan Lunt also worked on the project and attended the launch. The college said the project was selected in December last year.
Lunt is keeping a test tube containing the same lubricant in his office to compare how it reacts on Earth versus in microgravity once the space experiment returns. The Dragon spacecraft is expected to dock at the International Space Station around 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, and NASA expects the spacecraft to return to Earth in mid-November.
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College (A-B Tech) is listed among Asheville major employers and local colleges, alongside UNC Asheville and other Western North Carolina campuses. Sending a student-led materials experiment to orbit puts that technical college pipeline on a national science flight.
Campus officials said students spent months refining the lubricating oils experiment ahead of Tuesday launch, and the comparison samples on the ground will help them analyze results after the Dragon returns.
