SALT LAKE CITY — It was a typical day inside the hands-on aerospace engineering class at the Jordan Academy for Technology and Careers in West Jordan — at least, that’s what the Jordan School District students thought.
What they didn’t know is that their teacher, Amber Saffen, had a surprise announcement for the class from a NASA competition that students entered in August.
Everyone was stunned, including the winners, as they learned that a group of their classmates had just won the NASA TechRise Student Challenge. They were the only group in Utah to win the national award.
The winning team includes Zach Hall, Mason Rice, Canyon Bullock and Blake Bigler. Their proposal, along with others selected throughout the country, will be part of a high altitude balloon experiment that will travel into the stratosphere.
“We had a lot of good [projects]. But when I saw that one, I was like, ‘yeah that’s really relevant. NASA’s going to love that one,’” said Saffen.
The experiment focuses on determining how long data can be stored in space-like conditions. Saffen said the work has real-world applications.
“They really reached for the stars [in their proposal],” she said. “If they want to send something to space or something to Mars, they can calculate how long it’s going to last. We will learn how long things can survive and how different conditions will affect them.”
For the students, the opportunity to work directly with NASA is a dream come true.
“I am honestly shocked,” said student Zach Hall.
“Oh my goodness, that was so crazy,” said Mason Rice. “It’s so exciting. I want to work for NASA one day.”
“This is going to be much more like the real world,” said Blake Bigler.
“It’s run by NASA, so that’s pretty cool,” said Canyon Bullock.
The students will meet with the NASA TechRise team for the next 18 weeks as they prepare their project. If all goes as planned, the launch is scheduled for late summer.
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