A "Science Project" is closely related to an "Art Project." The meaning is an experience with (a) well-defined goal(s), for which
*nobody has any idea whether it's possible
*nobody has any idea how much money it will cost
*nobody has any idea how much time will be lost inventing an answer from scratch
*nobody has any idea how much time it will take to obtain the needed parts
*nobody has any idea how many of those parts won't, as it turns out, be appropriate

This is the kind of thing I really enjoyed when I had a corporate salary. Boss says "find out WHY this happened." On salary, that's the start of a fun project. Now that I basically sell labor and the price needs to be controlled, I just want it to work, even if I don't understand why it does.