KS Hawaiʻi, KS Kapālama haumāna take part in NASA science project

October 3, 2023

Five Kamehameha Schools haumāna (Emma Erbe KSH’26, Marley Osorio KSH’26, Sarah Lee KSH’26, Vivian Kau KSH’24, and Tiani Ing KSK’24) are part of an atmospheric science project sponsored by NASA and the Utah NASA Space Grant Consortium.

The JV-HAB balloon project is led by Douglas Paneʻe KSK’75. The mission aims to shed light on whether microbes can sustain themselves in the jet stream and potentially propagate or find new hosts thousands of miles away. Our KSH/KSK team is one of two Hawaiʻi teams involved in the project.

The first of two test launches took place on Saturday, September 21, using a small weather balloon and transmitter.

In the spring, teams will utilize a weather balloon about 10 times the size of the test ones and launch the official mission. A great experience and learning opportunity for these students outside of the classroom.