Fresno kids design nail clippers fit for outer space, they hope to win international competition

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Their mission started at Fugman Elementary school, but its destination is Mars.

"We've got the AstroTube Clipper," said student Kevin Chen.

The AstroTube Clipper is a patent pending product from the Chaos Crew, the Fugman Elementary School robotics team from last school year.

It's designed to clip fingernails and toenails in outer space.

"It helps clip your nails in space because currently, they clip their nails into vents, and then they vacuum them a few weeks later," said student Hamzah Ahmed.

As fifth and sixth-grade robotics students, they aimed for the Lego Global Innovation award, so they had to come up with an idea they could send into orbit.

They started by thinking about how to eliminate something gross.

"I was actually the one who wanted to learn how the astronauts pooed in space, and then it led to showering and brushing teeth, and we eventually got to nail clippings," said team member Milla Lucido.

They started simple.

"So we started out with just a simple straight tube, which we created as a lego protoype," said MaYa Eldadeh.

But the design evolved into the AstroTube Clipper. They'll pitch it at a championship event in San Jose next week and then it's up to the judges and the public to pick the best idea.

The winners get $20,000 to develop their products and the second and third place teams get $5,000, and the Chaos Crew already knows how they'd spend the money.

They want to make kid-friendly and anti-microbial clipper designs, and they're ready for another pitch to ABC's Shark Tank.

If Mr. Wonderful wants to know: It costs a little more than a dollar to make the clipper.

They're planning to sell it for about $12, so this elementary innovation could be very profitable.