Starting in the fall semester of 2020, the Honors College of Arkansas State University was approached by faculty to create a proposal for the NASA Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science (SPOCS) to send an experiment to the International Space Station. From this request, seven students began to create an experiment in sustainability in microgravity, finally deciding upon testing the wax worms' ability to break down polyethylene in space.

 

Over time, the group known as the Arkansas State Science Support System was singled out as one of the ten finalists nationally, and finally one of the five contest winners, obtaining funding to launch their project to the International Space Station and work with Nettleton STEAM as well as Blessed Sacrament.

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In the summer of 2022, the Arkansas State SPOCS team traveled to Florida for the launch of their experiment. Data was collected while the wax worms were in orbit and eventually the experiment was brought back to Earth for further analysis. Even though the project went up to space, meeting the original goal, the work still continues.

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With the end of the SPOCS program, the W.O.R.M.S (Waxworm Organic Recycling Management System) team was formed to continue research into waxworms and their effects on plastic. The team continues to work on outreach to schools like Nettleton STEAM and is excited to continue work on the project.