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Mesa high school students to take part in NASA study

MESA, Ariz. (FOX 10) - Some Mesa teachers and students are about to take part in a study with NASA. They're only one group of five finalists in the country asked to participate.

NASA needed something to protect their astronauts from radiation before they send them to Mars in 2020. And one day, NASA could be using the suits made right here at Red Mountain High School in Mesa.

Believe it or not, small scales made by a 3D printer are created to withstand surges of radiation. And NASA has their eye on this invention. The masterminds behind this project? None other than 14- to 16-year-old engineers at Red Mountain High School.

Paige Lottnan, lead engineer and senior at Red Mountain, says her team started the project this summer after NASA asked students to create wearable equipment for averting radiation. Out of the entire country, NASA chose five high school engineering teams and the students at Red Mountain made the cut.

The way their invention works? The tiles are created with materials like tungsten and high hydrogen content plastic to reflect and absorb radiation.

"The sun often has particle events and it has a huge surge of radiation and it can be dangerous to the astronauts," Lottnan aid. "You don't have the protection [in space] you have on Earth, so we set out to make a suit that absorbs radiation so the astronauts don't get the effects of cancer."

And astronauts will wear them. the students say they made a prototype and they're working down to the wire to finish their project.

"It's fun to be able to come up with ideas [and] solutions to real-life problems because it gives [us] good experience," Lottnan said.