4-29-2025 10:38am

HEREFORD STUDENT

BCPS high school senior selected for unique microgravity research

TOWSON, MD—Hereford High School senior Aya Elamrani-Zerifi has been selected to conduct research in microgravity aboard a specially modified Boeing 727, becoming one of only four high school students nationwide chosen for this opportunity. The flight, scheduled for Sunday, May 4 (weather permitting), is a collaborative effort between NASA, The University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Space Research, Space for Teachers, Inc., Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, and the Zero Gravity Corporation.

Elamrani-Zerifi’s research project, titled “Thermocapillary-Induced Bubble Dynamics,” will be conducted during parabolic flights, which provide periods of sustained microgravity for testing spaceflight technologies and performing experiments. She will be among 150 students nationwide participating in the NASA STEM Enhancement in Earth and Space Science (SEES) program, a collaboration between NASA and the University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Space Research that focuses on aerospace workforce development. The program combines collaborators’ strengths to advance STEM career preparedness.

Selected from nearly 100 applicants, Elamrani-Zerifi and the other three chosen students have been working with mentors and industry and academic aerospace experts to develop and prepare their experiments. The students will experience approximately 11 minutes of true weightlessness during each parabola flown by the specially modified Boeing 727 G-FORCE ONE® aircraft. Specially trained pilots perform aerobatic maneuvers that are not simulated.

Elamrani-Zerifi, an aspiring astrophysicist and aerospace engineer, has already gained experience in space research through internships at Johns Hopkins University and NASA SEES at the University of Texas Austin. Her passion for space exploration and aviation is evident in her accomplishments, including designing a hexagonal Propellant Management Device for a cryogenic fuel tank and winning first place in the high school division at the AIAA Young Professionals, Students, and Educators Conference last year.

STEM Enhancement in Earth Science (SEES)

Our Summer Intern Program is a nationally competitive STEM experience for high school students. Interns will learn how to interpret NASA satellite data while working with scientists and engineers in their chosen area of work, including astronomy, remote sensing, and space geodetic techniques to help understand Earth systems, natural hazards and climate science.