Out of this world

Students at Sentinel Career and Technology Center in the precision machining program are to have their work launched and delivered to the International Space Station Wednesday. To be delivered is the first HUNCH (High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware) Single Stowage Locker aboard SpaceX 10. The students began work on that locker in October 2015. Stacy Hale, HUNCH founder and NASA project manager from Texas, visited Sentinel Monday to allow the students to sign a second stowage locker to be launched later this month. "It is my goal to have every member of my team to sign the lockers," Hale said. Hale said the signing of the lockers is rare, in that only a few who machine, design, engineer and manage the projects of the hardware are allowed to sign the hardware created. "Your signature will certainly be out of this world," Hale said. Hale said they use a Sharpie marker that is specially tested to not cause outgassing – the release of a substance as a gas or vapor — to make the crew sick, as there is less pressure at the ISS. Hale said he created the HUNCH program 14 years ago. There are about 15 stowage lockers made each year. Lockers are used for stowage and to house experiments. Hale said these experiments are developed from three areas: government, commercial companies or through academia. Sentinel is one of only two schools in Ohio to have been selected to participate in the HUNCH program to create hardware for the project. "Sentinel provides many unique opportunities to our students, but HUNCH is by far one of the coolest," Ron Hoffman, precision machining instructor at Sentinel, said. "This program promotes student interest in sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is more than building hardware for NASA, it is building their portfolio and self-esteem because how many kids can say they played a role in sending something to the International Space Station?" Seniors Austin Obringer and Jacob Craig, both of Columbian High School, worked on the hardware. "It was a great learning experience," Obringer said. Obringer said he and Craig worked on designing the hardware and, even though there were a few hiccups, once they got the science down, they were able to make good, clean parts. "It was a great learning experience," Craig said. "It will be very cool to have on my resume." Obringer said the project meant a lot to him. "It gives me a sense of pride to be able to make quality work to be sent to space for NASA," he said. Both students are planning to attend a four-year institution after high school, to major in mechanical engineering. The locker to be launched Wednesday is to provide containment for a cargo transfer bag packed with loose hardware for late-load stowage. The hardware is to consist of a pea chamber containing pea seeds, an APEX harvest kit containing tools such as forceps and cryogenic pens to preserve plant samples, APEX tubes used for fixation of harvested plants and a variable gain amplifier to amplify the photodiode signal in an electrostatic levitation furnace. "This is not an easy process," Hoffman said. "This goes to show hard work does pay off. This program shows the skills of our young people to the community and event the nation."