Photo via Wikipedia/International Space Station
Photo via Wikipedia/International Space Station

In an amazingly cool after-school project, several high school students in Wapato, Wash., are developing a way to keep produce fresher for longer in space.

As King 5 reports, the group is part of NASA’s HUNCH (High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware) Extreme Science Program. About 20 students work about 20 hours per week on the after-school science project. The goal? To create a device that will help keep produce fresh at the International Space Station.

So far, the testing has been successful — a special combination of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide is used in a container to keep apples fresh. Now the group is challenged with making a smaller device to send to space for further testing.

Be sure to watch the King 5 segment below. It’s not only a great project, but the kids are incredibly inspiring and have aspirations to work in space-related fields upon graduation. One kid even says, “I will do anything to go to space.”

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