Who knew green goo could be both educational and scientific! U.S.-based television channel Nickelodeon worked with the International Space Station National Laboratory and researchers behind station fluids studies to send slime to space. The investigation Nickelodeon Slime in Space served both as research on non-Newtonian fluids and an outreach effort. The final product taught viewers about microgravity and materials science principles in a fun and engaging 15-minute virtual field trip targeted at grades 3-5. The field trip has been already viewed more than 600,000 times.
Sending this large amount of highly viscous liquid to the space station was a unique opportunity for fluids researchers. Scientists recorded observations of the slime’s fluid properties using eight demonstrations. These simple demonstrations provide valuable data on liquid behavior in microgravity. Such data inform the analysis and design of new space technology and space-based research. The data can be applied to work around low-gravity droplet production, mitigation, and containment and help inform continued work concerning general liquid containment, hydroponic plant watering in space, and more.
And of course, it is also fun to see astronauts slimed in space.
