Alexandra Crook
Age: 19
Invention at Age: 17
Salt Lake City, UT
Microgravity can be split into two different words – Micro (little or small) and Gravity (weight or heaviness). The definition for the word Microgravity is: “A nearly weightless condition, as that of an orbiting spacecraft”. In Microgravity things can be done, which cannot be done on the Earth’s surface. For example when sugar is poured into a pan of water, it sinks to the bottom, making it difficult to mix. In Microgravity the sugar would float and become evenly disbursed. This would make it easier to mix, and the solution would be more homogeneous. In this environment, different high-purity medicines could be made that cannot be made on the Earth’s surface. It is even possible that the cure for cancer could be found in Microgravity. Creating a Microgravity environment is very expensive. Because it is expensive, critical biological and material research that could benefit mankind is limited. This invention creates an inexpensive Microgravity environment with the following capabilities: 1) to measure and record microgravity levels (g’s) and duration, and 2) to start and stop experiments during the period of microgravity. Alexandra is presently attending the University of Utah.