NASA launched a new website “MissionSTEM.nasa.gov” to further widen its civil rights technical assistance program. (Photo : Reuters)
By HNGN Staff Reporter | Apr 18, 2013
Two high school students posed the question "what would happen if you wring out a wet waschcloth in space" and an astronaut aboard the International Space Station conducted the experiment which resulted in a rather beautiful moment in space.
The experiment, called "Wring It Out" was designed by two 10th-graders in Nova Scotia. Kendra Lamke and Meredith Hatfield won a contest sponsored by the Canada Space Agency to come up with an experiment for an astronaut to perform in micro-gravity.
According to the two students, they hypothesized that water from a wrung-out washcloth would not drip off but rather would remain on the cloth.
Commander Chris Hadfield, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, took on the challenge and recorded the experiment.
Watch the video below to see what happens when you wring out a wet washcloth in space:
And as you can see in the video above, the students were correct in assuming the water would remain on the cloth. The water does squeeze out of the cloth, but surface tension causes it to make a kind of water bubble that encircles the cloth and Hadfield's hands.
According to Hadfield, he describe the water as feeling like a gel or Jell-O.