Cubes In Space

16/04/2026

Guess what??!!! We have a brand-new opportunity for kids 12-16 years old. This summer we are offering the 3-day Cubes in Space Design and Engineering Camp! The entire Team Cubes in Space crew is getting together to host and deliver 3 days of space exploration-themed fun in Ottawa, Ontario from 28-30 July.

We opened registration yesterday and we are 25% booked already! See flyer for more information 😎

16/04/2026

10 years ago, a student name Shelbi was curious about cardiac health and surgical implantation for astronauts traveling on long duration space missions. She contacted subject matter experts at Medtronic for research. Shelbi caught the attention of Medtronic's Chief Scientist, Wade Demmer who answered her questions and helped to guide her research. But here is where the story gets truly AMAZING! Medtronic agreed to work with Shelbi, and she was able to send a tiny pacemaker (the Micra) into space on a sounding rocket NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. Shelbi knew the launch conditions would not be as extreme as astronauts launching from larger rockets from Earth. But if the pacemaker was functional upon return from spaceflight, then there is a great chance that these types of small pacemakers might be able to be used on astronauts needing urgent cardiac care in space. The pacemaker could survive re-entry to Earth.

You see, these small pacemakers are surgically implanted via catheter through the femoral vein in the groin. No open-heart surgery is necessary!

Our students' curiosity can lead to further research that can have significant impacts on space exploration in the future! We are tremendously proud of ALL the students and educators that have participated in our program over the past 12 years!

After this summer, our students' experiments will have flown on 23 NASA suborbital spaceflight missions as piggyback payloads!

To learn a bit more, check out Medtronic's video featuring Shelbi, Wade Demmer and the Micra.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nXZ9PNj8m_4

03/04/2026

Scientific exploration happens on cosmic and nano-scales. Understanding the effects of space travel on humans is a continuous endeavor.

Our students engage in similar types of scientific exploration contributing to human factors research - albeit on a simpler level. Nevertheless, we enable the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers!

We hope this article is an inspiration to our student space explorers!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KpMBNy1vD/

Right now, four astronauts are flying in space with their own personalized organ chips.

The AVATAR investigation is using bone marrow cells from each Artemis II crew member, so scientists can study how deep space affects individual human health in unprecedented detail.

Learn more: https://go.nasa.gov/3OhCAZ5

23/02/2026

Cubes in Space Featured Educator!

This week we are featuring Tara Potter, a gifted education teacher at St. Andrews Elementary from the Ottawa Catholic School Board system in Ontario, Canada. Tara generously shared with all Cubes in Space educators a truly creative, inquiry-based way of introducing material science to younger learners! The activity catalyzes discussion and brainstorming for the students' Experiment Concepts proposed as part of the Intent to Fly Form and Application for Spaceflight. Thank you Tara!

Tara Potter is an educator with 22 years of experience with the Ottawa Catholic School Board. She has a strong background in Special Education, gifted education, and technology integration, and is currently teaching the Program for Gifted Learners for Grades 4–6 at St. Andrew School. Tara supports inclusive, student-centered learning through STEAM, inquiry, and digital tools such as Minecraft, Micro:bits, coding, and media creation, with a strong focus on accessibility, collaboration, and student leadership.

20/02/2026

Curious if Cubes in Space students conduct real research and science? Check this out!

Students from the New England Sci-Tech center, under the mentorship of Bob Phinney, participated in our program in 2023. Because of their curiosity, scientific inquiry and determination, they have their research PUBLISHED in the Journal of Emerging Investigators, Inc. !!! Congratulations!!!!

Please visit the link below and download their full journal article - "The Effect of Rocket Travel and near-space environment on dried (porcine) blood and plasma."

https://doi.org/10.59720/24-337

Thank you NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, NASA's Sounding Rocket Program Office, NASA's RockSat Management Team, and Wallops Workforce Development Team for guidance and support of the suborbital flight missions as part of our Cubes in Space program.

Photo of NEST students at Cubes in Space FlightFest 2023 by NPR Marketplace Business News reporter Kimberly Adams.

11/02/2026

iEDU and our Cubes in Space program extends a HUGE thank you to for your continued support of student science research! Donations like yours help us to sustain our program and give thousands of students the opportunity for their "ingenuity to take flight!"

09/02/2026

Cubes in Space Courses Just for Students!

Want to learn directly from the Founder of Cubes in Space and design an experiment to fly on a NASA suborbital mission this summer?

We offer online Academies for students 10-13 years of age (Online CADET Academy) and for students 14-18 years of age (Online Student Academy).

The deadline to enroll your student in the CADET Academy is 22 March 2026. The deadline to enroll in the STUDENT Academy is 09 March 2026.

Visit www.cubesinspace.com for more information.

09/09/2025

Guess what?!! We've posted the Research Balloon-10 mission launch video!

https://youtu.be/BUWE-hPktU8

Since 2014, we've flown over 900 student experiments on scientific balloon missions with NASA's Wallops Flight Facility Balloon Program Office missions!

Cube return update: currently the RB-10 experiment cubes are still in New Mexico. NASA ships back their payload equipment at the conclusion of the fall campaign. We expect RB-10 cubes to be delivered to NASA sometime in October. We will drive 2 hours to NASA Wallops for deintegration.

Educators and students - be on the lookout to receive a link to the Post-Flight Analysis Report to complete once you've conducted testing and analysis on your payloads.

Many thanks to NASA's Balloon Program Office and the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility for providing operational support for our students' scientific research and technology development investigations!

On 21 August 2025, 100 student experiments were launched on the Cubes in Space mission RB-10 from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility - Fort Sumner N...

21/08/2025

To view live location of our RB-10 payload on NASA's Wallops Flight Facility Salter Test Flight Mission:

https://towerfts.csbf.nasa.gov/Maps/ConvGps752NT.htm

- thank you for the awesome video coverage this morning!!! This was the longest we've been able to watch ascent.

Congratulations to Team Cubes in Space for 11 amazing years of the program: 11 sounding rocket missions and 10 high altitude balloon missions launching over 1900 student experiments from around the world. Thank you teachers and parents for your dedication and support of your students. And thank you students for participating in our program. We appreciate you all tremendously.

And thank you everyone at Wallops, BPO and CSBF for all you to enable our students' ingenuity to take flight!

21/08/2025

https://video.ibm.com/channel/nasa-educational

Inflation nearly complete for RB-10