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After winning NASA challenge last year, Chicago area school trying to send another experiment into stratosphere

NASA student challenge underway
NASA student challenge underway 03:43

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Talk about a cool opportunity. NASA is calling on middle and high school students to submit their experiment ideas.

The NASA TechRise Challenge is closing in just one week, and NASA will run the winner's tests aboard a flight.

"The whole idea is for the students – from four to as many as they want in the classroom – to build an experiment that will take place in the stratosphere," said St. Paul of the Cross School teacher Dr. Karl Ochsner.

Chloe, one of the St. Paul students who won the contest last year, said it helped students build their friendship.

"And we learned very many different skills that we'll use later in life together," she said.

The students said they were comparing ultraviolet rays and voltage levels in the troposphere and stratosphere.

While only five students were on that team, they said they made sure their whole class and student body were represented by having their experiment blessed, and the box carrying their experiment included a picture of the whole school, so their whole school could essentially go into the stratosphere.

St. Paul of the Cross has entered another experiment in this year's challenge, which ends on Nov. 13.

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