Through partnership with NASA, Cumberland Co. students lead science project to and from outer space

CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Some Cumberland County Schools students are going to infinity and beyond with a science experiment they've been leading with NASA.

Friday, three wizkids at a school in Fayetteville unveiled results from their experiment after it was sent to the International Space Station.

The three 4th graders at W.H. Owen Elementary, Gary Dixon, Brielle McCoy, and Princeton Scott said they didn't think they'd win the chance to do the outer space mission with NASA scientists. However, after they won the STARward STEM Design Challenge last year, they got to go to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and watch the rocket take off to the ISS in real-time.

"It was amazing, but I was kind of disappointed and excited because there was a cloud blocking the view, but thanks to the cloud blocking the view, the whole night sky was lighted by the rocket," Dixon said.

ALSO SEE: NASA selects UNC graduate to head to space

Since November, NASA scientists have been carrying out the kids' experiment from the ISS to see how plants grow in outer space. That was until today when the kids opened up the results after they were sent back down to earth. Now the students are comparing how those chards grew in outer space compared to ones growing here on the planet.

NCSU Biologist Aurora Toennisson has been guiding them in the project for a year.

"They were very good at coming up with some out-of-the-box ways of doing things when I first talked with them, which was I think one of the reasons they ended up sending their thing to NASA. They couldn't decide between seeds that grew in space and seeds that grew on the ground, and so they designed an experiment with a very small amount of space that they could do both," Toennisan said.

"I'm pretty sure some (classmates) might be envious about what they experienced because it's amazing what they did," said the students' teacher, Anayansi Young.

The students said they're learning a lot from the mission. However, at this point, they said they don't expect to be joining NASA anytime soon.