Born from the challenge of the Space Race, ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ was created to transform imagination into innovation and prepare people to launch humanity beyond its limits. Today, we are still are a place where our peopleβs curiosity drives discovery, bold questions shape the future and exploration advances life on Earth.
Founded to reach the moon, weβre already on our way to the next frontier. Built for liftoff, Americaβs Space University celebrates ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ Space Week Nov. 3-7.
Where Global Leaders Unite to Boldly Forge the Future of Space
As Floridaβs Premier University for Engineering, Technology and Innovation, ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ continues to lead the way in preparing students for the industries of tomorrow β including those that reach beyond Earth.
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ students are participating in theβ―Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (Mission 21), a national competition that provides students with the opportunity to design experiments for launch to theβ―International Space Station. The initiative is co-directed byβ―Phil Metzger β00MS β05PhD, planetary scientist and director of ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs participation in the program, and Amy Gregory β11±Κ³σΆΩ, associate professor and Faculty Fellow for Space Tourism at theβ―Rosen College of Hospitality Management.
βWeβve been encouraging students to think beyond science and engineering,β Metzger says. βWorking with Rosen College helps make this a true ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ collaboration β one that shows space can connect to every discipline.β
Each campus brings a unique perspective to the challenge. On the main campus, students are developing experiments ranging from βspace laundryβ β testing whether clothes can be cleaned in zero gravity β to studying crystal and yeast growth in microgravity. At Rosen College, students are exploring howβ―food and beverage preparation can adapt to long-duration space travel, experimenting with tofu coagulation, texture and preservation techniques to help define what future astronauts β and eventually space tourists β might eat in orbit.
βUp to this point, space research has focused on getting there,β Gregory says. βOur students are asking what comes next β what happens when people live and work in space? Food is at the heart of that conversation because itβs nourishment, medicine and community all in one.β
Rosenβs efforts are also being integrated into the classroom through a newβ―food and beverage in spaceβ―module within the Techniques of Food Preparation course led byβ―Chef CΓ©sar Rivera Cruzado, allowing hospitality students to connect research with coursework while learning how their field intersects with science, technology and human experience beyond Earth.
βThis is an area thatβs growing fast,β Rivera-Cruzado says. βSpace tourism is coming in less than 10 years β maybe even five β and every sector will have an opportunity to contribute. For us, that means learning what food and hospitality look like off the planet.β
Rosen College has also connected withβ―space industry figures, including engineers, astronauts and chefs, such asβ―JosΓ© AndrΓ©s β as well asβ―representatives fromβ―Blue Originβ―andβ―Axiom Space β to explore future opportunities inβ―space hospitality and culinary equipment development.
Together, these initiatives highlight how ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs collaborative spirit continues to propel discovery β preparing students to help define what hospitality, comfort and daily life might look like as they reach for the stars.
