Braden River student helped with experiment destroyed on doomed rocket

MANATEE -- When Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Antares rocket exploded spectacularly shortly after liftoff from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Oct. 28, a payload of supplies intended for the International Space Station was lost.

Among them was a science experiment designed in part by a Braden River High School sophomore.

Prior to transferring to Braden River, Harley Wade was a student at Fayette Academy in Somerville, Tenn., where a team of students developed an experiment to answer the question of what effect microgravity would have on the reishi mushroom's ability to weaken, damage or destroy leukemia cancer cells.

Students weren't allowed to use cancer cells in the experiment so they substituted E. coli cells.

The common reishi mushroom "has a history of destruction and damage on various forms of cancers and pathogens," according to teacher-facilitator Donna Burrus, citing its use over thousands of years in China.

"We were watching the launch from here in Bradenton and couldn't believe it when it blew up," said Harley's mother, Julie Wade, who moved her family to Manatee County recently to be closer to relatives on Anna Maria Island.

The team of students was hoping to learn whether microgravvity would give reishi mushrooms a boost in its ability to combat the E. coli cells.

"We started work on the project in October of last year," Harley Wade said. "The excitement of the launch turned to shock when the explosion occurred."

Indications are that a malfunction occurred in one of the Russian-built 1960s rockets, causing the Antares rocket to explode.

The Fayette Academy student team, plus Harley Wade in Bradenton, are hustling to put their experiment back together for a proposed Dec. 9 launch at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

To make that deadline, students are working to get their flight mini-labs delivered to Houston as early as Nov. 18.

Fayette Academy has set up a website where donations can be made to help the students in their drive to put their experiment into space: fayetteacademy.com.

James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee reporter, can be contacted at 941-745-7053 or on Twitter @jajones1.

This story was originally published November 10, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Braden River student helped with experiment destroyed on doomed rocket."