Students at two Colorado high schools are creating projects that may travel into outer space.
NBC affiliate 9News reports that teenagers are participating in High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH), developing experiments for a zero-gravity setting. The initiative was created in an attempt to inspire students to pursue careers in the science and engineering fields.
The best project from each school will be selected and tested in a zero-gravity airplane in April. Officials from NASA will determine which of the experiments is worthy of use on the International Space Station.
"Kind of fun to be able to go around and say, 'I work for NASA,'" said Garrett Lipkei, a student who is contributing to HUNCH.
The theme of the projects is finding a way to grow food in space. Students are encouraged to think creatively in order to design an innovative and applicable experiment.
Scientists from NASA are currently in New Orleans to take part in the A-Train Symposium, which is an annual event that brings together an array of instruments that help experts better understand Earth's changing climate and environment. While in the Big Easy, NASA officials will visit schools to encourage students about the importance of Earth studies.
