Lakeland high school students selected for NASA challenge

Yahoo

27-05-2025

LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) – A group of six high school students from the Central Florida Aerospace Academy is heading for the stratosphere— literally.
The students are the only team in the state of Florida selected to participate in NASA's TechRise Student Challenge, a national competition that gives young innovators the opportunity to design, build, and launch an experiment into the upper atmosphere.
Their project? A small, hand-built experiment designed to test how different types of 3D-printed plastic materials hold up against radiation nearly 70,000 feet above Earth.
'This is the project right here,' said Joshua Johnson, one of the students on the design-build team, holding up a small box. 'It's quite a small box, but this is kind of the meat of where our project is.'
The team learned in January that their idea had been selected. Camille Foreman, the project lead, remembers the moment clearly.
'There was a video scrolling through all the names of the schools, and we were just waiting and waiting,' she said. 'We saw our name, and we were all really excited about it.'
Their winning concept explores how radiation in the stratosphere affects 3D-printed materials—a timely and relevant question as reusable rockets and rapid prototyping become increasingly vital in space exploration.
'We designed an experiment that would test the effects of radiation in the upper atmosphere on 3D-printed materials,' Foreman explained.
'Reusable rockets are so relevant now,' added Johnson. 'And 3D printing makes it easy to create parts. So, we thought, what 3D filament is going to last longer?'
From idea to execution, the team built their project from the ground up—literally—with many of the components crafted from LEGO bricks. A rotating conveyor belt inside their device will expose different plastics to high-altitude radiation during the flight.
'A lot of projects you do in school are kind of simulations,' Johnson said. 'This is real. This is going up to the stratosphere. That's really cool.'
The students have even been able to collaborate with NASA engineers, gaining insight and mentorship from professionals in the aerospace industry.
'They've been a great help,' Foreman said. 'It's definitely giving us a lot of ideas—especially for those of us going into engineering fields.'
While they're excited about the science, the students say what stands out most is the teamwork.
'We have very different skills represented here,' said Johnson. 'It's really cool seeing all of us come together, all of our different talents, working together to create this.'
The project is scheduled to launch later this summer on a weather balloon in California.
From Lakeland to low-Earth orbit, this group of students is proving that big dreams can take flight—even when they start in a small box.
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