COLUMBIA, S.C. — Students at Midlands Tech will soon be making a name for South Carolina in space.
The technical college tells News 19 they are the first and only college in the Palmetto State chosen to participate in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP).
This means their research will be developed by astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS).
Anyone can be apart of something groundbreaking.
"If they had enthusiasm, they could do anything. Haha no matter what else happened," said Jordi Fernandez, Midlands Tech biology faculty advisor.
If only you put your mind and faith in it.
"The students were very confident, which I liked," Fernandez said.
The exact scientific concoction Fernandez saw within the hearts of students in his Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.
"When I got back the first drafts of their proposals and I saw the professionalism with which they had written the proposals, that was a little bit hair raising, because a lot of times students struggle with basic lab reports," Fernandez said.
PhD level work Fernandez said.
"I was blown away," Fernandez said.
And now, half a dozen students are sending their science project to space.
The experiment is on the safety of spinach sprouts growing in micro-gravity and if its makeup is any different than here on earth.
"They grew extremely well. This is like the best germination we've had from all of our experiments and procedures. They look beautiful," Robert Ferguson, biology student said.
Mind you, these students are not all studying biology. Craig Elliott is a psychology major, and one of the research proposal writers.
"We have a good group going on. From that point on, it just, the snowball kept rolling, it's like I only had more confidence in everyone the longer we'd been going," Elliott said.
Will Turner is also a psychology major.
"It's this something inside that says that I did this … Coming from a background of commercial fishing for the past eight years and just all the ups and downs and all the trials and tribulations that I've had to endure since my early 20s, to be 32 and to be in a situation now given to me by midlands tech to just, to show what I'm able to do is just amazing. There's really no words to be able to describe it. It's pure joy," Turner said.
Joy that began thanks to spinach seeds, a whole lot of faith and enthusiasm.
Midlands Tech said these students' experiment will be launched into space in September.