From Classroom to Cosmos: Central Mountain H.S. Students Build Parts for NASA Space Missions
By Emily Wright
MILL HALL —In an extraordinary educational partnership, Central Mountain High School’s precision machining class, offered through the Career and Technology Center (CTC), is completing a hands-on project with NASA. This project is part of NASA’s “High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware” (HUNCH) Program.
Last Tuesday, November 12, the CTC at CMHS welcomed special guest Bill Gibson, a seasoned Hardware Support Specialist and mentor for NASA’s HUNCH Program—a hands-on educational initiative that gives high school students an opportunity to gain modern skills and kickstart their careers by designing and creating real products that are not only approved by NASA but also cater to the needs of astronauts and crew systems.
The NASA HUNCH Program pairs high school students with NASA mentors like Gibson, who support them as they design, build, and test hardware that must meet NASA’s rigorous standards. Essentially, the HUNCH Program is a practical engineering and science class where students learn by designing and constructing equipment that astronauts will use on the International Space Station (ISS). Through their experience, students develop valuable skills in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
One of HUNCH’s projects allows high school students to build parts for NASA’s Cube Satellite Deployers. The Deployers launch and deploy small satellites called CubeSats into orbit from the ISS. Participating in the project gives CMHS’ precision machining students a chance to play a vital role in groundbreaking research in microgravity while also allowing them to be part of history in the making.
The students use design and engineering skills that they’ve learned through the CTC’s precision machining class to create parts for the Cube Satellite Deployers. In the design phase, they gain hands-on experience using computer-aided design (CAD) software. During the manufacturing phase, they employ a computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine tool to meticulously craft each component for the CubeSat Deployers. Precision is vital here, as even the smallest error can impact the Deployers’ performance in space’s microgravity environment, and the parts must meet NASA’s stringent drafting and manufacturing standards. After testing and quality control steps are completed, the parts can be prepared for their journey to the ISS aboard a SpaceX rocket.
Gibson’s visit to the CTC’s precision machining class offered a unique opportunity for both students and faculty. He introduced them to a Single Stowage Locker top that, once fully assembled, will be launched into space to store experiments headed to the ISS. Students were given the rare opportunity to sign their names on the locker top, a privilege reserved exclusively for NASA HUNCH Program participants, as Gibson pointed out. They also experienced NASA’s stringent standards firsthand; before signing, they had to wash their hands to keep the locker top sterile, and they were required to sign an “ISS Single Stowage Locker signature record.” Faculty from other programs joined the class to learn about the educational initiative and to add their signatures to the locker top as well.
Gibson, with his extensive 36-year teaching career, eventually found his way to NASA and later became a mentor for the HUNCH program. This opportunity arose when he announced his retirement, and NASA asked him to take on a mentoring role. During his visit with the group of precision machining students at Central Mountain, he explained the importance of precision in crafting equipment destined for space travel. He also emphasized that the students’ involvement in the precision machining program can significantly impact their futures, urging them to take it seriously. “Even if you don’t pursue a career in machining, I assure you that you’ll develop a higher aptitude, so be sure to put your best foot forward,” he encouraged them.
Under the guidance of Jeremy Schneider, now in his fourth year as CMHS’ precision machining instructor, students are stepping into a world that blends intricate precision engineering with the exhilarating realm of space exploration. Around a dozen students ranging from 9th to 12th grade are currently enrolled in Schneider’s class.
During the previous school year, Schneider led students in a different NASA HUNCH Program project, and he hopes to continue offering the program in his class moving forward.
For Schneider and his students, these projects are more than an academic exercise—they are a catalyst for careers and dreams, a practical experience that bridges the classroom with the cosmos. As the precision machining students continue their work, it’s clear that this partnership is not just about building components for NASA; it’s about constructing the pathways of futures yet to be realized. Further, the students’ contributions help to advance space exploration, creating opportunities both for themselves and for humanity’s space endeavors.
