NASA teams with high schools

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - NASA will team with students at 17 high schools in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee to design and develop hardware and software products for use in America’s space program. Students will work with NASA engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and Stennis Space Center on eight projects identified by the High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH) initiative. One goal of the HUNCH initiative, launched in 2003 at Marshall, is to inspire high school students to pursue careers in science, technology or engineering fields. HUNCH teams include faculty leads and 10-15 student team members who will work with NASA mentors. Projects this year include, among other things, hardware mockup for use on the International Space Station, heavy lift space vehicle subsystems and a portable rocket engine test stand. (Source: NASA, 11/17/10)