Littleton Students’ Lady Bugs Perish In Failed SpaceX Launch

· Jun. 29, 2015, 6:55 pm

Photo: SpaceX Launch June 28 2015 (NASA) — SpaceX CRS-7 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 10:21 a.m. It blew apart shortly afterward.

KUSA-TV reports three fifth-grade students from Littleton won a national bid to have their experiment on the survival of lady bugs in space included on the unmanned supply rocket.

The students hoped the experiment results would have applications for future "space gardens," as did students from Golden who wanted to test if worms in soil can compost in space.

An experiment by BioServe, based at Colorado University-Boulder's Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, was also lost, as were projects by high school students from Littleton and Lafayette.

NASA's Space Station Program Manager Michael Suffredini says losing experiments has a big impact on students, and that they will be given help with rebuilding.

You care.

You want to know what is really going on these days, especially in Colorado. We can help you keep up. The Lookout is a free, daily email newsletter with news and happenings from all over Colorado. Sign up here and we will see you in the morning!