High School Students Develop a Tape Dispenser for the ISS
Students have been designing tools for NASA astronauts for at least the last 18 years. And some of those designs have made their way into space. Here’s more from SlashGear:
Students from five different states worked to come up with a solution called the HUNCH tape dispenser. The name HUNCH stands for High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware. The program is a nationwide program that challenges students to design and build equipment that could be launched and used aboard the ISS. HUNCH is in its 18th year, and so far, students have designed lockers, handrails, tools, and a galley table for the crew to eat at.
The program has also come up with some of the food items astronauts eat in the past. The HUNCH dispenser is operable with one hand, which is vital aboard ISS because often the astronauts are using the other hand for stabilization. Before the HUNCH dispenser, the duct tape rolls and Kapton high-temperature tape were just stuck to the edge of work areas or on handrails and other places within reach.
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