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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

������ý Alabama Community College Accepted into Prestigious Student Spaceflight Experiments Program

ALEXANDER CITY, AL —January 21, 2025 — ������ý Alabama Community College (CACC) is proud to announce its selection to participate in the highly regarded Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP), a groundbreaking initiative by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE). This prestigious program offers students an extraordinary opportunity to design and propose scientific experiments for operation aboard the International Space Station (ISS), providing hands-on engagement with real-world science in a microgravity environment.

CACC’s participation reflects its commitment to fostering innovation and STEM education while addressing Alabama’s growing need for a skilled workforce in the Aerospace and Defense industry. The initiative is supported by a team of dedicated faculty, including Dr. Jeremy M. Carr, SSEP Community Program Director, Dr. Robin Calvert, Co-Director, and faculty Maribeth Farr, Leslie Rewis, Tracy Kirk, Andrew Collins, and Ernest Lee.

“We are excited to provide our students with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engage with authentic scientific research,” said Dr. Carr. “Through this program, students will not only develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills but also gain insights into the exciting world of space exploration.”

The SSEP journey at CACC will involve a competitive experiment design phase where teams of students develop proposals for microgravity experiments. These proposals will be rigorously reviewed locally before the top designs are submitted for evaluation by a national committee. The winning experiment will then undergo optimization, safety reviews, and final preparation for its launch to the ISS, where it will be conducted over four to six weeks.

Beyond experiment design, CACC will invite area schools to design mission patches, fostering broader community engagement with the project. This collaborative effort aims to inspire students across the region to explore STEM fields and imagine their futures as innovators and leaders.

CACC has committed $30,000 to support this initiative and create enduring educational opportunities for its students and the community.

For more information about CACC’s participation in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program and updates on student progress, please contact Dr. Jeremy M. Carr at jcarr@cacc.edu.

**������ý the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP)
**The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program [or just “SSEP”] is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S. and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with Nanoracks, LLC, which is working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.

**Media Contact:
**Scott Hardy
Director of Institutional Advancement, Government Affairs, and Public Relations
������ý Alabama Community College
shardy@cacc.edu
256-496-2450