HAMPTON, Va. – Sixteen students from Kecoughtan High School (KHS) and New Horizons Technical Center in Hampton, Va., will test a spatial disorientation trainer chair used to prevent pilots from getting airsick and help astronauts adjust to their first few days in space.
The chair, also known as a “Barany Chair,” was built by students in NASA’s High School students United to Create Hardware (HUNCH) program and will be tested at NASA’s Langley Research Center here Thursday, May 23, at 9:30 a.m.
Media who wish to see testing of the Barany Chair and talk to Langley experts and HUNCH students should RSVP to Sasha Congiu by 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 22, at 757-864-5473/272-9859 or sasha.r.congiu@nasa.gov.
After final assembly and testing, the chair will be shipped to NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) where it will be used to teach how abrupt head movements affect aircrew members during flight.
The HUNCH program involves 108 high schools from across the Nation that fabricate real-world products for NASA as they apply their STEM skills as well as learning to work in teams and think creatively. HUNCH uses high school classes in the Career & Technical Education fields such as engineering, manufacturing and fashion to give students real life experience in developing flight and training hardware for NASA. It is a win-win innovative solution for inspiring the next generation of researchers and providing cost-effective hardware for NASA. Examples of items developed include cargo transfer bags, mid-deck lockers, and glove box mock-ups.
To learn more about the HUNCH program, visit: http://www.nasahunch.com/
