As part of the Celebration of Women in Space this summer, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex welcomes scholars from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation each Wednesday in July. These trailblazing women will share their stories and what projects they are currently working on during their presentations.

On July 26th at 2:00 PM inside Journey To Mars, launched by United Launch Alliance, hear from Ruth Nichols. Nichols is a 2022 and 2023 Astronaut Scholar from Florida Tech. She will touch on her experience as the commander of the Analog Astronaut mission and her “Heinz Ketchup Research Project.” The Heinz "Marz" ketchup project was a collaboration between Heinz and the Palmer Lab to create the first ever "Martian" ketchup using tomatoes grown in simulated Martian conditions. She is also studying how plants change their growth in response to the presence of a threatening plant in the same environment and how we can use this behavior to address our plant growth needs for future Martian colonies. Hear about these projects and other ongoing research she is conducting.

The Women in Space Wednesdays presentations are included with admission!