Magnitude.io is a global education technology company that transforms classrooms into active research laboratories. We bridge the gap between K-12 education and professional science by enabling students to run ground-control experiments that mirror live research missions on platforms such as the International Space Station (ISS).
Mission MushVroom is an interdisciplinary exploration spanning science, engineering, design, and the development of durable skills. This project, branded as ExoLab-13, draws inspiration from the historic Fram2 mission from 2025.
Key Objectives
- Introducing the world of fungi.
- Exploring nutritional needs and food security.
- Understanding the Carbon Cycle.
- Challenging participants to design solutions.
- Encouraging reflection and development of durable skills.
- Connecting schools globally.
Mission Start: February 2026!
Imagine being a pioneer building the infrastructure for a lunar research station. You’ve been handed a substrate block of mushroom spawn to set in motion a regenerative food system for long-term survival. Beyond horticulture, you’re on a critical mission in bio-engineering the carbon cycle.
Dr. Flávia Fayet-Moore
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The mission runs across four challenge phases:
| Phase | Action | Goal |
| 1 | Fruiting & Harvest: Hydrate and monitor your official substrate block until maturity. | Track the lifecycle (pinning to full development) and select the healthiest fruitbody for cloning. |
| 2 | Tissue Culture: Extract inner tissue from the harvest and transfer cuttings to agar plates or liquid culture. | Achieve sterile transfer in a controlled environment to establish a clean culture on a solid or liquid medium. |
| 3 | Spawn Expansion: Transfer the colonized mycelium (from the agar or liquid culture) to sterilized grains. | Expand the mycelial mass onto a nutrient-dense carrier (grain spawn) to create a vigorous “seed.” |
| 4 | Bulk Inoculation: Mix the fully colonized grain spawn into a new bulk substrate. Your final substrate is an interesting exploration. Cereal straws, sawdust, coffee grounds, corn cobs, and even paper products like cardboard, newspaper, toilet paper rolls can be used. Maybe those unpaired cotton socks in your drawer have a new purpose! | Complete the biological loop, enabling students to fruit a second generation (clone) of the original mushroom. |
ExoLab-13: Mission MushVroom challenges you to step into the role of an astronaut, meticulously monitoring this fungal life cycle from spore to fruit, and then taking it one step further: learning to clone the microscopic hyphae to guarantee perpetual life.
Success is creating a sustainable “flywheel” that provides vital Vitamin D, the Carbon Cycle, or maybe even revolutionary new materials. Join us in an interdisciplinary journey to unlock the potential of mycology and determine how a humble mushroom can become the key to extending human life far beyond Earth.
Mission Start: February 2026! Preorder now and save $50 on the key to your Magnitude Classroom portal
The mission of Magnitude.io is to cultivate the next generation of brilliant scientists, engineers, and leaders through stellar STEM experiences igniting curiosity, inquiry, and ingenuity. With project-based learning, K-12 students engage in NGSS-aligned lessons and authentic research through ExoLab life sciences experiments aboard the International Space Station.
Collaborating with people of all ages - from K to Gray - Magnitude develops experiences at the edge of discovery for your country or community. Schedule time with us to discuss how we might help foster capabilities and skills for the next generation on Earth and Beyond for deployment in 2026-2030. Welcome to the Artemis Generation! View some of our projects.