They've Got a HUNCH: PHS's New Extracurricular

by Adam Roberts

 

For some PHS students, being on a research team for NASA has come a lot sooner than they may have thought.

Just this year, Platteville High School has been added to the short list of schools participating in the HUNCH program. HUNCH (High schools Uniting with NASA to Create Hardware) is a program that was created in 2003 to give high school students real-world hands-on experience while developing cost-effective hardware for NASA. Students participating in the HUNCH program design and test hardware that will aid astronauts in zero gravity.  “Our primary goal is to make life better for astronauts,” says Mr. Matt Heer, advisor for the HUNCH team.  

Platteville High School’s HUNCH team is comprised of 15 students hard at work to create hardware for the program.  The team began tackling their herculean task earlier this year by creating a proposal, which involves creating a device that will stabilize a GoPro camera in zero gravity.  With the proposal being submitted and approved, Dean Loeffelholz (‘15), Mike Donovan (‘15), Max Frommelt (‘15) and Katelynn Quario (‘15) will have the opportunity to test the prototype this April in Houston, Texas.

After testing in April, a symposium will be held with astronauts and engineers to review the top 8 schools’ experiments.  A maximum of three schools will be selected to test their prototypes at the International Space Station.  

While the HUNCH program is already in full swing, the team can still use support and encouragement as they continue to work on this project. Says Mr. Heer, “There are kids at Platteville working really hard to put something thing on the Space Station.”  So PHS, be aware of the efforts of the HUNCH team, and get involved!

You can follow Platteville’s HUNCH team on Twitter (@PvilleHUNCH) or on their website https://sites.google.com/site/pvillehunch2014/

Want to watch the full interview? Check it out here: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDIsF58FeD8