Wapato H.S. Science Projects Catch The Eye Of NASA

How does Wapato High School look from space?  Small - but with ideas BIG enough to catch the attention of NASA which has announced it wants a closer look at a couple of projects some students are working on to feed astronauts and protect them from radiation while in space.

In a press release Wapato is proud to announce The High School’s Robotics & Engineering Team has been invited as a finalist to present at the NASA HUNCH Final Design Review program in Houston, Texas on April 16, 2019.  HUNCH stands for High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware.

Pretty cool, huh?

NASA considered about 300 projects from around the country for a Final Design Review and the Wapato projects were among just 76 that received an invite.

The Final Design Review program will give the students the opportunity to show NASA astronauts and engineers the progress they have made on their 5-year “Apples in Space” project with a goal of creating  a system that keeps fruit (apples) fresh for a longer period of time while in space.

The other project students will present while in Houston is called the RAD Jacket.  RAD stands for Radiation Absorption Device.  The students were challenged with designing a garment to hold radiation shielding materials being developed by Lockheed Martin. The goal is to develop a jacket that will protect the vital organs of the astronauts from radiation but still allow for plenty of mobility.

Clearly for the clever kids at Wapato, the SKY is not the limit!