BELLEVILLE — Students Aidan Perry (Class of 2025) and Ari Mehta (Class of 2026) at Belleville High School won the Exploration of the Moon and Asteroids by Secondary Students (ExMASS) research program competition on May 3. The national competition was judged virtually by a panel of NASA scientists with five final high school teams contending for the first-place title.

Since 2010, the ExMASS program has offered secondary students across the U.S. the opportunity to do scientific-based research about the Moon and asteroids. This year, seven high school teams were selected to take part in the competition. Teams first learned material provided by the ExMASS program before going on to conduct their own student-driven research. ExMASS is organized by the Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, through a partnership of the Lunar and Planetary Institute and NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Perry and Mehta have been working together as a team under the guidance of their Belleville teacher Erin Treder and NASA advisor Dr. Kelsey Prissel. Their research project entitled, “Comparison of Lunar Impact Cratering Frequency and Age by Latitude,” posed the question: “How does the frequency of impacts on the lunar Poles compare to those of lunar craters elsewhere and how can this data be used to determine the relative age of differing regions on the lunar surface?” During their initial study of the Moon and asteroid units provided by ExMASS, they visually noticed a higher frequency of craters on the lunar poles compared to the rest of the lunar surface. They both thought this trend was interesting, and so they decided to study it further.

Aidan Perry (Monroe) is the son of Marie and the late James Perry. Ari Mehta (Belleville) is the son of Katie and Drew Mehta. 

Perry and Mehta made a great team combining their talents in STEM-related studies. Perry utilized surface integration and other topics in calculus as they began their research and Mehta drew upon his knowledge of Computer Science.

“I enjoyed working with Ari because he has amazing ideas to help fuel our research while bringing a positive outlook to the overall process,” Perry said. “Collaboration was vital to our research since we constantly worked together to formulate proper methods and to correctly analyze our data and draw conclusions.”

Mehta enjoyed working collaboratively because as a team, he feels they could each apply their strengths in their research methodology.

“Aidan was able to calculate surface area using the volumetric mean radius in order to create our frequency graphs. I was able to code the Python scripts necessary to sort and filter the data,” Mehta said.

Treder was pleased to see Mehta and Perry win this year’s competition after witnessing how hard they worked on their research project. Treder underscored that ExMASS is a student-driven research program, so her primary role is to make sure they have all the resources they need and that they stay on track to complete the project in time.

“I am most proud of how much these students have grown over the course of the year. They have really expanded their knowledge about the nature of science, as well as the lunar content they focused on, while also growing and expanding their collaboration, presentation, and research skills,” Treder said.

It truly takes a team to prepare for a competition like this, and the Belleville learning community is encouraged to see their students embrace this opportunity through NASA. District Administrator Nate Perry is excited for what a win like this means for the educators and students in a rural school district like Belleville.

“Nearly nine years ago, the School District of Belleville made a significant investment in STEAM. That included hiring talented teachers, purchasing the appropriate curriculum, and building the spaces necessary for success,” Nate Perry said. “For a district the size of Belleville with 955 students and 294 students at the high school to win a national competition like this, shows an outstanding return on that investment. It also proves that it does not matter where you come from as much as the time and dedication our students and staff — like Ari, Aidan, and Mrs. Treder — are willing to put in to create the effort that will determine their success.”

Providing STEAM-enriched opportunities like ExMASS has been a wonderful experience for Mehta as he thinks about his future.

“Participating in the ExMASS competition has given me a chance to learn about various STEM-related studies that I would love to study further. I am excited to go and present at Washington University because of the opportunity we will get to further improve our presentation,” Mehta said.

For Aidan Perry, he too is excited to have had the chance to participate in the ExMASS competition and to get the chance to share their team’s work and to see others’ research.

“This seems like a gateway into actual research, so attending the Exploration Science Forum will be exciting since I can learn more about scientific research from others at the event while getting a chance to present our work in a genuine setting, which will be exciting since this is my first time doing so,” Aidan Perry said.

In winning this competition, both students now have a chance to expand their horizons, dive deep, and see scientific-based research on a national level. The two BHS students are will present their work at the 2024 NASA Exploration Science Forum to be held July 23-25 at Washington University in St. Louis.