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Student Spaceflight Experiments Program Mission 21 to the International Space Station Flight Experiment Proposal Guide Revised: September 9, 2025
This Flight Experiment Proposal Guide provides the requirements for completing a microgravity experiment proposal for the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) Mission 21 to the International Space Station (ISS), and includes:
● A description of the required sections for a proposal, and the objectives and content to be addressed in each. ● Required templates for a number of the proposal sections. ● A Proposal Style Guide to which all submitted proposals must conform. ● Reference to, and should therefore be used in conjunction with, two key resources: o SSEP Mission 21 to ISS: Mini-laboratory Operations webpage o SSEP Document Library Section 3. Student Proposers Resource Library
Proposal Completion Checklist –
□ Section I. Proposal Cover Page Has a 1-page limit and must include a Proposal Summary not to exceed 250 words.
□ Section II. Student Team Members and Professional Advisors No page limit, use as many pages as needed
□ Section III. Experiment Materials and Handling Requirements No page limit, use as many pages as needed
□ Section IV. The Question to be Addressed by the Experiment Has a 2-page limit
□ Section V. Experiment Design Has a 3-page limit
□ Section VI. List of Reference Publications No page limit, use as many pages as needed
□ Section VII. REQUIRED Letter of Certification by the Teacher Facilitator Must be signed by the Teacher Facilitator
Proposal Style Guide: It is typical for a proposal guide for professional researchers to include certain style and layout requirements for proposal submissions. A standard style ensures uniformity across all submitted proposals, which is not only helpful to reviewers, but also ensures fairness. For example, one proposal should not be allowed to place more content on a page by decreasing font size or margins.
All proposals submitted to SSEP must conform to the following style requirements: ● Page size: Standard 8.5” x 11” pages, single-sided ● Margins: 1” margins, all around (top, sides, bottom) ● Line spacing: single-spaced, 0 pt before and after ● Font: 12 pt, Times New Roman, black ● Page numbers: pages must be numbered ● Grammar and Spelling: a proposal should not be submitted with any typos or grammatical errors, which means that careful proofreading is essential.
The Step 2 Review Board will consider any non-adherence to the Proposal Style Guide when grading for “Communication”. Note that this Flight Experiment Proposal Guide conforms to these style requirements.
Style Guide for Citations and List of Reference Publications: The main body of the proposal is found in proposal Sections IV and V. In these sections, the presentation of current scientific knowledge, other background content, and any facts not considered common knowledge should be associated with citations to primary reference publications. ( Note: Wikipedia is not a primary reference publication and should not be used as a reference for the proposal.) Citations should be appropriately embedded in the proposal text, Sections IV and V, and a list of the cited references should be provided as Section VI of the proposal. Note: there are multiple citation styles (APA, AMA, etc.). Students are free to use whichever citation style their school or community group has adopted.
Organization and Layout A well laid-out and organized proposal allows reviewers to easily review and assess the student designed microgravity experiment. This Proposal Guide provides a template of sections to be included when submitting a proposal for SSEP.
Some tables and images provided in this Proposals Guide are required to be included in the proposal and are marked such, while other parts of the guide should be excluded, e.g., checklists, style guides, instructions/guidance for what should be included in each section, etc.
However, it is acceptable and encouraged that proposal submissions include the section headings ( e.g., Section IV. The Question to be Addressed by the Experiment) and/or sub-headings ( e.g., Discussion of Current Scientific Understanding that is Relevant to the Experiment).
All proposal submissions should start with proposal Section I. Proposal Cover Page.
Section II. Student Team Members and Professional Advisors ● Page limit: use as many pages as necessary. ● Using the Flight Experiment Proposal Guide: Background for Student Proposers found in the Document Library determine the level of participation for each member of your student team, and list alphabetically under the corresponding heading. ● A separate list of professional advisors (e.g., teachers, professors, professional researchers, graduate student advisors, product specialists, etc.) that supported the student team during the proposal process may also be included.
Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigators
● Students that are taking a leadership role in designing the experiment or are involved in
all aspects of designing the experiment.
Name: Grade level:
Investigator or Co-Investigators
● Students whose job is to address important specific aspects of the experiment.
Name: Grade level:
Collaborators (listed in alphabetical order)
● Students with a supporting role on the team, providing either resources or expertise as
needed.
Name: Grade level:
Professional Advisors
Name: Organization: Contribution to Team:
Section III. Experiment Materials and Handling Requirements
In this section, you will: ● Identify the Rhodium Fluid Experiment Tube (RhFET-01) configuration proposed to be used. ● Provide a list of proposed experiment samples (fluids and solids) with the proposed amount of each sample. The exact amount of each sample proposed is to be included. You can list the volume (e.g., 0.1 ml of tap water or 0.2 ml of Bacillus subtilis spores), the mass (e.g., 0.1 g yeast), the dimensions (e.g., 0.5 cm x 0.5 cm piece of cotton), or the number to be used (e.g., 5 radish seeds). ● Define Thermal Control Requirements for the proposed experiment. ● Define your Proposed Crew Interaction Days and Crew Interactions with the proposed experiment while aboard the ISS.
IMPORTANT Notes: ● Page limit: use as many pages as necessary. ● Specificity of Samples: If your experiment is selected for flight, the experiment samples must be described with even more specificity, as required by NASA Flight Safety Review. For the purposes of this proposal, you can list the samples in the more basic form similar to the examples above. However, since all samples must be listed in a more detailed manner before the selection of the experiment for flight can be confirmed, it is highly recommended that you read the document Required Specificity for Description of Experiment Samples found in the Document Library for further details on how to list your samples in the format required for flight safety review. ● Restrictions on Samples: As detailed on the SSEP Mission 21 to ISS: Mini-laboratory Operations webpage and the List of Problematic Samples in the Document Library, there are constraints on the biologicals, chemicals, fluids, gasses, and solids that can be used: ● Prohibited Samples: samples that cannot be used : radioactive fluids or solids, perfumes, hydrofluoric acid, magnets, cadmium, beryllium, acetone and technology. In this case, technology includes: batteries, lighting, and any device that is associated with electrical circuits and/or mechanical systems. Proposals containing prohibited samples will NOT be accepted for review. ● Hazardous Samples: Rhodium and NASA reserve the right to refuse fluids and solids based on their ability to pass flight safety review, such as: o Samples that when mixed can result in chemical reactions that cause excess heat, light, and/or pressure, which could lead to loss of containment or can adversely impact other mini-labs that share the payload box on ISS are not allowed. o Infectious biologicals, rated above a BioSafety Level-1 (BSL-1). Biologicals rated BSL-2 Moderate, require review and approval in advance of proposal submission, while those rated BSL-2 High or higher are not allowed. o Chemicals rated above a Toxicity Level 1 (THL-1). Chemicals rated THL- require review and approval in advance of proposal submission, while those rated THL-3 or higher are not allowed. ● Problematic Samples: samples that may adversely interact with the mini-lab are listed in the List of Problematic Samples document found in the Document Library.
Select the proposed mini-lab configuration
We propose the use of a:
□ Type 1 Configuration with passive microgravity exposure and no opening and/or closing of valves. Mini-lab configuration remains the same throughout the flight.
□ Type 2 Configuration with interactive microgravity exposure – a single valve is opened by the ISS crew to initiate an interaction between samples. Allows for activation (e.g., growth or reaction) of the experiment.
□ Type 3 Configuration with interactive microgravity exposure – two valves are opened by the ISS crew to initiate interactions between samples. Allows for activation (e.g., growth or reaction) and later termination (e.g., fixation).
- List of Proposed Experiment Samples (Fluids and Solids to be Loaded in the Mini-lab) List your proposed experiment samples, and their amounts, by mini-lab volume.
We propose the following fluids/solids, and valve configuration (at time of loading):
Volume 1 List each fluid/solid to be loaded in mini-lab Volume 1, and the amount of each sample:
Valve 1
□ open
□ closed
Volume 2 List each fluid/solid to be loaded in mini-lab Volume 2, and the amount of each sample:
Valve 2
□ open
□ closed
Volume 3 List each fluid/solid to be loaded in mini-lab Volume 3, and the amount of each sample:
- Thermal (Temperature) Control Requirements
Table 1: Requesting Thermal Control for Your Experiment This table must be filled out and included in the submitted proposal , select (with an ‘X’) refrigeration or ambient conditions for travel legs that are not already marked with required conditions for that leg.
Refrigeration
Ambient Conditions PRE-FLI GHT
Shipping from your Community to Rhodium in Houston At Rhodium until Handover to NASA FLIGHT Handover to NASA Until Arrival at ISS^ N/A^ X (required) Onboard ISS N/A X (required) POST-FL IGHT
From ISS until Arrival at Rhodium N/A X (required) At Rhodium through Return Shipping to Community
- Proposed Timeline of Crew Interactions–Your Proposed Crew Interaction Days and Crew Interactions Aboard ISS
Table 2: Allowed Crew Interaction Days For the five Crew Interaction Days below, A=0 is the Day of Arrival, when the SSEP experiments payload is brought from the ferry vehicle through the hatch on to the ISS, and U=0 is the Day of Undock, when the ferry vehicle with the SSEP experiments payload undocks from ISS for return to Earth.
1 on arrival at ISS (day payload is transferred from ferry vehicle to ISS) A= 2 during first week (2 days after transfer from ferry vehicle to ISS) A+ 3 2 weeks prior to undock (14 days before undock) U- 4 in week prior to undock (5 days before undock) U- 5 in week prior to undock (2 days before undock) U-
● There can be NO request for the ISS crew to: observe what is happening in the mini-lab; act in response to an observation; take notes; photograph or videotape the mini-lab; or open the mini-lab. ● See the Mission 21 to ISS: Mini-Laboratory Operation webpage for further details.
Table 5: Your Proposed Timeline of Crew Interaction Days and Crew Interactions ● This table must be filled in and included in the submitted proposal. ● Use Tables 2-4 above to fill in your proposed Crew Interactions and Modifiers, on the proposed Crew Interaction Day.
Allowed Crew Interaction Day Proposed Crew Interactions and Modifiers
A=
A+
U-
U-
U-
Section IV. The Question to be Addressed by the Experiment
Page limit: 2 pages, including any figures and photos; the expectation is that no proposal should be submitted with just a few sentences for this section.
What’s in this section? A description of the question to be addressed by the experiment: this description needs to include, but is not limited to:
● detailed description of the basic question to be addressed by the experiment; this must include a justification for why it makes sense for this experiment to be conducted in microgravity.
● discussion of current scientific understanding that is relevant to the question: explain what is already known by the scientific community, and how this knowledge naturally leads to the question to be addressed by the experiment.
● description of the insight that will be gained from the experiment: how an answer to the question posed can either add to, or provide added confirmation of, the current scientific understanding.
Note: You should think of the bulleted list above as a checklist of topics that need to be addressed in your write-up of Section IV. They are presented in a logical order. However, you are not required to write them up separately, and the order in which you address them is up to you. In this section you are telling the “story” of your experiment, and you can weave the topics above into that story in a way that is logical for your experiment, so that the story flows. However, if you choose to include the sub-headings that is allowable as well.
Note: you should think of the bulleted list above as a checklist of topics that need be addressed in your write-up of Section V. They are presented in a logical order. However, you are not required to write them up separately, and the order in which you address them is up to you. In this section you are telling the “story” of your experiment, and you can weave the topics above into that story in a way that is logical for your experiment, so that the story flows. However, if you choose to include the sub-headings that is allowable as well.
Section VI. List of Reference Publications
All statements of fact that are not considered common knowledge should include a citation in the text for the reference publication where the information was obtained, and those publications must be listed here. References not cited in the proposal should not be included.
Note: there are multiple citation styles (APA, AMA, etc.). The community is free to use whatever citation style they have adopted for students. However, if using a web reference, please provide the complete URL in the List of References.
Section VII. REQUIRED Letter of Certification by the Teacher Facilitator (template below)
Note: this letter must be signed by the Teacher Facilitator, scanned, and emailed to NCESSE as a PDF document.
[Date]
I certify that the student team designed the experiment described herein and authored this proposal, and not a teacher, parent, or other adult. I recognize that the purpose of this letter is to ensure that there was no adult serving to lead experiment definition and design, or write the proposal, and thereby provide content and/or professional expertise beyond that expected of a student-designed and student-proposed experiment.
I also understand that NCESSE recognizes that facilitation of thinking across the student team through advice and counsel by the team’s Teacher Facilitator, other teachers, and local area and national researchers, is not only to be encouraged but is absolutely vital if students are to receive the necessary guidance on the process of scientific inquiry, experimental design, how to do background research in relevant science disciplines, and on writing the proposal. I also understand that it is appropriate for the Teacher Facilitator and other teachers to provide editorial comment to the student team on their proposal drafts before proposal submission.
I also certify that the samples list and the special handling requests listed in this proposal are accurate and conform to the requirements for SSEP Mission 21 to ISS. I confirm that the team, after reviewing their procedure and budget for obtaining the samples for the experiment, is certain that they will be able to obtain the necessary samples for their experiment in time to meet the deadline for shipping the flight-ready RhFET-01 to Rhodium.
Finally, I certify that the student team will have access to the proper facilities and equipment to prepare the RhFET-01 for flight and to analyze the samples after the flight.
[Signature]
[Name] Teacher Facilitator
