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APS Middle Schoolers Come Out on Top in NASA Competition

Posted February 4, 2025, 3:40 PM. Updated February 4, 2025, 3:45 PM.

Eisenhower students' 'Space Pizza' experiment to fly on high-altitude balloon.

They’re still years away from getting their driver’s licenses, but four APS middle schoolers are already designing an experiment that NASA will be ferrying 70,000 feet into the atmosphere this summer.

As part of its mission to inspire the world through discovery, NASA challenged sixth- to 12th- grade students throughout the U.S. to form teams and design an experiment to test on a high-altitude balloon.

Four seventh-graders from Eisenhower Middle School accepted the challenge and were among just 60 winners from across the country chosen to bring their experiments to life. The Eisenhower team was the only one from New Mexico chosen for the honor.

It's just like a dream come true,” said Thomas Quirk, an aspiring physicist whose self-described role on the team is to keep his teammates on task. “I've dreamt about this for a while, and it's just great.”

As a winner, the Eisenhower team is guaranteed a spot for its “Space Pizza” experiment on a NASA-sponsored high-altitude balloon flight. The balloon will fly at 70,000 to 95,000 feet for four to eight hours, providing exposure to the atmosphere, high-altitude radiation, and perspective views of Earth.

“It feels really amazing and like a pretty big achievement,” said Steinar Kelly, who is interested in a career in computer engineering and software development. “I am super happy that we got in and were accepted for this project. I'm really hoping to learn a lot of new stuff doing this.” 

He suspects his experience in coding and software development will come in handy as he and his team set out to make their experiment a reality. 

And while Steinar is excited to tackle the project, he admits he’s also feeling a bit of anxiety.

“This is going to be an undertaking because I haven’t really worked with many of these components before, but I know that we have great mentors from NASA that will help us learn and develop this idea,” he added.

The team also includes Autumn Nguyen and Steinar’s twin, Lleyton. 

On Their Own

One of the most remarkable things about Thomas, Steinar, Lleyton and Autumn is they undertook the project on their own. They’d meet weekly on weekends for about an hour and brainstorm ideas.

“We’d just write stuff down in the Google Docs, and it just came together,” Thomas said. 

They eventually approached inclusion science teacher James Goodman because they needed a faculty member sponsor to enter the competition.

“It came from the students,” Goodman said. “I give them all the credit for initiating the project and starting it up.”

They submitted their proposal in October and were notified in January that they had won. 

“I would like to say how extraordinarily grateful I am for my team and all the work they have put into this project,” Steinar said. 

The experiment involves sending basil, tomato seeds and yeast into the high atmosphere to test the effects of radiation and high temperatures on plant life and organisms.  

“We connected these things through pizza, so we called our entry Space Pizza,” Thomas said. “They’re going to be exposed to freezer-level cold conditions, unfiltered radiation, and all sorts of stuff. We’re really interested to see how it will affect the pizza and the taste.”

As winners, team members received a prize kit with various components for their experiment and $1,500 to purchase anything else they may need to build it. They also are receiving technical support from Future Engineers' advisors.

They have until May to get the experiment fully designed and built. At the end of May, they will ship their experiment to NASA. In July or August, the experiment will be placed on a high-altitude balloon and sent into the atmosphere.

“The big prize is just being able to build this,” Thomas said.

Eisenhower Middle School’s “Space Pizza” team illustrates the work happening throughout Albuquerque Public Schools to help students develop the skills, habits and mindsets they will need to succeed in life: perseverance, self-regulation, self-efficacy and social awareness. Such attributes are part of Goal 4 in the district’s efforts to improve educational outcomes for all students.