Watch UF scientist rocket to space at the Reitz Union Aug. 29

Take part in history on Thursday, Aug. 29, as the University of Florida’s own Rob Ferl, Ph.D., becomes the first NASA-funded academic to conduct an experiment in space as part of the Blue Origin New Shepard mission.

Join a watch party starting at 8:30 a.m. in the Reitz Union atrium to track the countdown to launch at 9 a.m. and follow the dramatic 11-minute journey to space and back. Free popcorn and “astronaut food” will be available as the official Blue Origin webcast plays. The event is hosted by the Reitz Union and the UF Astraeus Space Institute.

Tune into the live launch coverage here.

During the flight, Ferl will conduct an experiment testing how plants respond to the transition to space using specialized experimental devices strapped to his spacesuit. On land, UF Professor Anna-Lisa Paul, Ph.D., and Astraeus Space Institute assistant director Jordan Callaham will conduct on-Earth control experiments at Blue Origin’s launch site in West Texas.

Ferl and Paul were the first scientists to grow plants in moon soil. Their research program seeks to understand how plants grow under microgravity in order to one day support long-term space missions to the moon or Mars, where plants will be essential for food and oxygen, and where they can provide astronauts with a little slice of home.