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Local Students Cook Up a Challenge for NASA Astronauts

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NASA

Feb 11, 2016
MEDIA ADVISORY16-005
Students from the Phoebus team work on their recipe in a kitchen
Students from the Phoebus team, left to right, Sarah Hayes, Rhett Hughes, Taylor Holden, Raequan Ricks and Brittney Richards work on their culinary creation. Credits: NASA

NASA’s Langley Research Center will host a taste-testing panel for the 2nd annual HUNCH (High schools United with NASA to Create Hardware) Culinary Challenge Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 11:45 a.m. EST.

Media interested in attending the HUNCH Culinary Challenge taste-testing should contact Lily Daniels at 757-690-3616 or lillian.e.daniels@nasa.gov no later than 10 a.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 16. Media need to arrive at the NASA Langley gate located at 2 Langley Blvd. by 11 a.m. for the Tuesday event.

This year, the New Horizons Regional Education Center in Newport News has two teams that include high school students from across the Peninsula participating in the challenge. The teams have been learning about food science  and about the challenge of  developing and processing  tasty recipes for astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS).

Approximately 30 teams from across the nation will compete for a spot as one of the 10 finalists. The top 10 finalists will travel to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in April for the final culinary competition. There, they will prepare their entrée at the JSC Food Lab for astronaut evaluation & taste testing. One entrée will be chosen to be made into a meal for the crew to eat while aboard the ISS.

The culinary team from Phoebus High School, which included students from all four Hampton high schools, won the overall HUNCH Culinary Challenge last year. Their recipe of rice and beans with coconut milk was made into astronaut food. Processed versions of their dish are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in March.

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Lily Daniels
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
757- 864-9582/757-690-3616 (cell)
lillian.e.daniels@nasa.gov
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