Mich. teens win space experiment contest

DETROIT, March 23 (UPI) -- An experiment on superbugs designed by two Michigan high school students will be conducted on the International Space Station this summer, officials said.

Troy High School students Dorothy Chen and Sara Ma, both 16, won in the 14-to-16-year-old category in a competition for students to design an experiment to be performed in space.

Their experiment asks: Could alien superbugs cure disease on Earth?

Bacteria will be sent to the ISS to determine if introducing different nutrients and compounds can block growth, possibly providing new tools to fight superbug infection on Earth.

The pair was feted Thursday in Washington.

"I never expected anything like this to happen," Chen told The Detroit News. "I just keep saying 'wow, wow.'"

Ma said she was most excited about the space angle.

"In many competitions, you win $50 or some other prize money and it's over," she said. "But with this, it's so exciting to know our experiment will actually be performed in space."

The competition was sponsored by YouTube, Space Adventures and technology company Lenovo in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.