Seventh graders impress TI and NASA with innovative solutions to support a mission to Mars

DALLAS, TX -- A team of five seventh graders from Hyde Park Middle School in Las Vegas, Nevada has won the mISSion imaginaTIon design challenge from Texas Instruments (TI) and NASA. The national competition asked students from across the country to propose solutions to challenges astronauts would face on a journey to Mars. The questions were based on the challenges International Space Station (ISS) commander Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko encountered in the first year-long mission aboard the ISS.

The problems ranged from what to eat in space for optimal strength and nutrition to how to detect and prevent potential collisions with orbital debris. The winning team of students proposed a vertical garden to capitalize on limited space to feed the astronauts and developed intricate plans for reinforcing the spacecraft's outer hull to protect against space debris.

As a prize, winning team members, Subhan Wade, Caitlyn Coloma, Jaiden Reddy, Isha Shah and Nicholas Ho receive assorted space goodies and their choice of either a TI-Nspire™ CX or TI-84 Plus CE graphing calculator and software. The team will also have the opportunity to chat with a NASA astronaut about their wining submission.

For more information, visit http://www.education.ti.com