Bacteria are a troublesome problem for astronauts. The microorganisms(微生物)from our bodies grow uncontrollably on surfaces(表面)of the International Space Station, so astronauts spend hours cleaning them up each week. How is NASA solving this very tiny big problem? It's turning to a group of high school kids. But not just any kids. It's depending on NASA HUNCH high school class, like the one science teachers Gene Gordon and Donna Himmelberg lead at Fairport High School in Fairport, New York.
HUNCH is designed to connect high school classrooms with NASA engineers. For the past two years Gordon's students have been studying ways to kill bacteria in zero gravity, and they think they`re close to a solution. "We don't give the students any breaks. They have to do it just like NASA engineers," says Florence Gold, a project manager. "There are no tests," Gordon says.
"There is no graded homework. There almost are no grades, other than ‘Are you working towards your goal?' Basically, it's ‘I've got to produce this product and then, at the end of year, present it to NASA.' Engineers come and really do an in-person review, and… it's not a very nice thing at time. It's a hard business review of your product."
Gordon says the HUNCH program has an influence on college admissions(录取)and practical life skills. "These kids are so absorbed in their studies that I just sit back. I don't teach." And that troublesome bacteria? Gordon says his students are emailing daily with NASA engineers about the problem, readying a workable solution to test in space.
