Project shows kids butterflies growing in space

updated 7:29 p.m. ET Nov. 11, 2009

BOULDER, Colo. - Students nationwide are getting a chance to see how butterflies develop in space, compared to here on earth.

A University of Colorado experiment will feature monarch and painted lady butterfly larvae aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. The shuttle lifts off for the International Space Station on Monday.

About 100 elementary and middle schools nationwide are getting kits with butterfly habitats so they can compare them to those in the space station's weightless environment. Photos of the butterflies in space will be taken every 15 minutes and be sent to earth to be uploaded to a Web site.

The site also allows schools that don't receive kits to also participate in the experiment.

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