PUGAS was a student run experiment package that flew on NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

's STS-7

STS-7

STS-7 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission, during which Space Shuttle Challenger deployed several satellites into orbit. The shuttle launched from Kennedy Space Center on 18 June 1983, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base on 24 June. STS-7 was the seventh shuttle mission, and was Challengers second...

 Space Shuttle

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...

 Mission aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger

Space Shuttle Challenger

Space Shuttle Challenger was NASA's second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, Columbia having been the first. The shuttle was built by Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division in Downey, California...

 launched 18 June 1983.

The official designation was G-009: Purdue University - Geotropism, Fluid Dynamics and Nuclear Particle Velocity. The Payload Manager was Dr. John T. Snow. The NASA Technical Manager was Richard Palace.

The device was designed to conduct three experiments, two of which failed. The first failed one was intended to test seed growth in microgravity in an unconventional way—by germinating seeds on a spinning disc. The degree of artificial gravity on the spinning wheel is highest (0.25 g or 2.5 m/s²) at its rim and lowest at its center. Using this fact, the influence of different levels of gravity on seed germination could be determined by placing seeds at different radial locations on the disk. At the end of the mission, the growth was to be arrested. After return the orientation of the roots were to be used to determine the threshold of gravity at which a plant could determine which way was down. A second failed experiment on fluid dynamics was intended to measure the bulk oscillations of a drop of mercury immersed in a clear liquid. A short circuit prevented the seed and mercury drop experiments from functioning.

The payload also included a nuclear particle detection experiment. This experiment was a success; it traced and recorded the paths of nuclear particles encountered in the near-Earth space environment.

Purdue’s Schools of Science, Engineering, and Agriculture developed the flight hardware for the project, with the U.S. Navy providing access to the necessary test facilities at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division

Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division

Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division is the principal tenant command located at Naval Support Activity Crane. NSA Crane is a United States Navy installation located approximately southwest of Bloomington, Indiana and predominantly located in Martin County, but small parts also extend into...

.

The experiment hardware is currently on display in the lobby of the A.A. Potter Engineering Center on the West Lafayette, Indiana

West Lafayette, Indiana

As of the census of 2010, there were 29,596 people, 12,591 households, and 3,588 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,381.1 people per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 74.3% White, 17.3% Asian, 2.7% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.03% Pacific...

campus of Purdue University.