A Brevard County school is about to fall into the space limelight with an experiment developed by students headed to the International Space Station.
Inside some tiny vials is an experiment, inspired by a teacher stricken with a terrible disease, which will soon head to orbit.
Students at Melbourne's West Shore Junior/Senior High School hope the unique micro-gravity environment of the International Space Station will provide the backdrop for a potential cure for ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
"We are testing if an enzyme will break down the proteins in Jello," said senior Genna Owen.
Owen and two other seniors, Carissa Sage and Hannah Schroeter, are just some of the students who have been working on "ISS:Project Whitworth."
It is named for the school's track coach who was stricken with ALS back in 2011.
"The kids watched his decline, wanted to understand more about the disease, begin researching it and then we came up with this experiment," said Amy McCormick, the teacher in charge of the project.
It is one of only 17 selected to fly to the ISS out of nearly 1,500 from across the U.S. and Canada.
It's hoped the experiment will be one step in a possible cure for the dreaded disease and let people know about it.
"We are really helping people and public awareness. Not many people know about ALS," said Owen.
Through this flight into space, many more will know what these Melbourne students are doing to help their coach and others affected by an illness they want to stop.
The experiment will launch from the Wallops Island, Va. spaceport on Dec. 15 aboard an Orbital Sciences rocket, making it the company’s first trip to the ISS.