WHAT: Sixteen student teams from middle schools and high schools in 10 states will gather in North Alabama April 25-26, bringing with them sophisticated rockets of their own design — the culmination of their work in NASA’s 2007-2008 Student Launch Initiative. Teams will display their projects April 25 at a rocket fair at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and will launch the rockets April 26 in Toney, Ala.

Members of the media are invited to the rocket fair and the launch to interview student rocketeers and see their creations fly. The launch, a free event, is open to the public.

NASA’s Student Launch Initiative challenges student teams to build their own rockets, capable of flying working science payloads — also of the students’ own design — to an altitude of 1 mile and retrieving them intact. The annual rocketeering event, managed by the Marshall Center, gives students practical experience managing complex scientific research and conducting aerospace and engineering projects from drawing board to launch pad. Student teams are eligible to participate in the Student Launch Initiative if they placed among the top 25 finalists in the annual Team America Rocketry Challenge, a nationwide rocket competition sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry.

WHO: Sixteen middle school and high school teams from schools in Plantation, Fla.; Byron, Ill.; Park Ridge, Ill.; Millington, Mich.; Omaha, Neb.; West Point, Neb.; Weare, N.H.; Statesville, N.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; Herminie, Pa.; Wolfforth, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; Chesterfield, Va.; Madison, Wis.; and Slinger, Wis.

WHEN & WHERE: Rocket fair: 10:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. CDT, Friday, April 25, Buildings 4200 and 4203 lobbies, Marshall Center; Rocket launch: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CDT, Saturday, April 26, Bragg Farms, 1180 Grimwood Road, Toney, Ala.

DIRECTIONS TO BRAGG FARMS:

* From downtown Huntsville, take Hwy 231/431 North to Grimwood Road, which is 5 miles north of Bob Wade Lane and 0.7 miles north of Meridianville Middle School.

* Turn west (left) onto Grimwood Road.

* Go 2.5 miles to Bragg Farms. The farm will be on the south side of Grimwood Road.

TO ATTEND: News media interested in covering these events should contact Angela Storey in the Marshall Center’s Public & Employee Communications Office at 256-544-0034 no later than 4 p.m. CDT, Thursday, April 24. Media attending the rocket fair must report to the Redstone Arsenal Joint Visitor Control Center at Gate 9, Interstate 565 interchange at Rideout Road/Research Park Boulevard. Vehicles are subject to a security search at the gate. News media will need two photo identifications and proof of car insurance. Visitor parking is available in front of Building 4200 on the southwest side.