Seventh graders in Texarkana chosen to work with NASA program

TEXARKANA, Ark. (KSLA) - A group of seventh-grade students in Texarkana is receiving global recognition for research on gravity’s effects on microscopic animals on earth and soon in space.

The three little scientists are Nirav Neupane, Max Gaylor, and Kevontae Espada. For the last six weeks, they’ve been researching the effects gravity has on Tardigrades, which are microscopic animals.

“We are sending eggs and specimens of these creatures to space and see how they developed in microgravity,” said Neupane.

The boys’ research is going so well that the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program has chosen their project to continue on at the International Space Station.

“I feel like our research can help further advance our knowledge of space and help us further explore space,” said Espada.

Texarkana ISD is one of 37 school districts from three countries participating in this year’s Students Spaceflight Experiments Program. Working with NASA, the program allows students to design and propose actual microgravity experiments that will be tested on the International Space Station.

“I feel like we have worked pretty hard to get to this point, and I feel like our research will really help and I feel very good that we got specifically we got selected,” remarked Gaylor.

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