Space mold! UCCS and Pikes Peak State College students sending experiment to space
Bradley Davis
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – A group of five students will get to watch their college project launched into orbit so astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) can carry out the experiment.
“I’m using these equations and putting them into actuality. I’m putting something out in the world that’s coming from my brain,” UCCS Chemistry student William Shemel said.
Their project, “Fungal Bioleaching in Microgravity: Fungal Approaches to Metal Recovery,” won a competition against 11 different groups from other competitors in Colorado. They are one of just 21 groups globally selected by the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP).
Two local professors started the statewide competition for a spot in the SSEP: Lynnane George with the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (UCCS), and Dr. Mckenna Lovejoy with Pikes Peak State College (PPSC).
The group’s experiment involves sending samples of mold spores to the International Space Station to see if they react different in a microgravity (zero gravity) environment.
The long-term goal of the experiment is to improve the feasibility of human life on other planets. Planet colonizers would theoretically use these type of mold spores to break down local materials and harvest raw metals on-planet rather than having them “shipped” from Earth.
The students are Joseph Bate (UCCS Physics), Evan Martin (UCCS Aerospace Engineering), Tristan Dwyer (UCCS Biology), William Shemel (UCCS Chemistry) and Cody Leeper (PPSC Aerospace Engineering).
All five are invited to watch the launch scheduled for April 2026 at the Kennedy Space Center.