After months of hard work and $78,000 worth of equipment, Iowa State’s aerospace engineering department will make its debut in space today at 10:04 a.m.

ISU aerospace engineering students and faculty, together with participants from the University of Iowa, have designed the Iowa Joint Experiment in Microgravity (IJEMS) that will accompany the space shuttle Endeavour into orbit.

The coop experiment will show “how metals solidify in a micro gravity [nearly zero gravity],” said Darby Cooper, an ISU graduate student and project manager in aerospace engineering.

Understanding how micro gravity affects the formation process of metals will benefit future projects and help address safety concerns, said John Bendle, project coordinator.

But as for the shuttle’s overall mission, Cooper said the experiment is only one part. “We are a pretty minor part,” Cooper said. The project itself is “only 80 pounds out of the 5,000 pounds involved in the shuttle.”

“The project itself consists of a gas can with two circular plates connected to each end,” Bendle added. “The original concept was to build a satellite. The project got on paper, but there was no funding to further the project.”

All the crew will have to do is throw a switch, Cooper said.

The opportunity for the IJEMS, began with the University of Houston Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center’s Wake Shield Facility. The group then contacted the Iowa Space Grant Consortium about the project.

With funding from the consortium, Ames Lab, and the Institute for Physical Research and Technology, the project was on its way, Bendle said.

“We are proud of the joint effort between the Iowa schools,” Bendle said.

Bendle said if the project is successful, the department hopes to receive further grants, because another project is already underway.

Those at ISU who were involved with the project will meet in 310 Town Engineering today to watch the shuttle take off, but everyone is welcome to attend.