Bristol, VA – May 12, 2025
Ten aspiring engineers from Virginia Middle School recently took part in an extraordinary opportunity—collaborating with NASA in an Engineering Design Challenge that tasked students with solving a problem vital to future lunar missions: how to filter water on the moon.
Calling themselves the "Aqua Cats," the student team was challenged to design, build, test, and present a simulated lunar water filtration system. Their mission was to develop a prototype that could clean water effectively under strict limitations, including a maximum mass of 1,000 grams, a $15.00 budget, and the use of no more than three filtration materials.
The students had to ensure their system met four critical filtration criteria: pH level, odor, debris, and contaminant removal. After multiple prototypes and learning from several trial-and-error attempts, the team’s final design featured a layered system: a base of cotton balls, followed by 1.5 cups of activated charcoal, another layer of cotton balls, ½ cup of sand, and a repeat of the layers. The prototype successfully passed three out of the four criteria, with only contaminants remaining in the filtered water.
The challenge culminated in an exciting field trip to Hampton, Virginia, where the Aqua Cats presented their final design to NASA engineers at the Air and Space Museum. There, they gained firsthand insight into wastewater treatment and recycling, explored engineering careers, and deepened their understanding of the Engineering Design Process.
“The most important thing we learned,” one student reflected, “was not to give up. We made a lot of mistakes at first, but we learned from them and kept improving. And we really had to work together as a team.”
The students would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to Mrs. Allison and Mrs. Austin for leading the challenge and guiding them through the design process. They are also grateful to Mr. Kelly, Mrs. Allison, and Mrs. Austin for accompanying them to Hampton to present their project. Special thanks also goes to Mr. Ritchie and the BVPS School Board members for their continued support of STEM education and student innovation.
This experience marked a major milestone for Virginia Middle School’s growing STEM program and left students with both inspiration and confidence to tackle real-world challenges—perhaps even on the moon someday.
