The Aerospace Industries Association
today announced the finalists for the Team America Rocketry Challenge — the
world’s largest model rocket contest for high school students. A field of
nearly 900 high school teams-more than 9,000 students-was narrowed down in
regional fly-offs to the top ranking 100 teams. The students were asked to
design, build and test a model rocket that could fly as close to 1,500 feet as
possible with a payload of two raw eggs, and then parachute the eggs back to
the ground unbroken. The final 100 teams come from 36 states across the
nation, including the District of Columbia. A list of the teams is available
at www.rocketcontest.org .
The finalists will compete at the Team America national fly-off to be held
May 10 in The Plains, VA. The top five winning teams will share a prize pool
of $50,000 in savings bonds and $9,000 in cash. The contest is the first
national rocket competition for high school teams and is sponsored by AIA and
the National Association of Rocketry (NAR). The National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) has contributed additional prizes, including a
chance for students to build an advanced rocket and the opportunity for
teachers to attend an advanced NASA rocketry workshop, meet with NASA
engineers, and tour the Marshall Space Flight Center.
AIA President and CEO John W. Douglass said that the contest was created
to celebrate the 100th anniversary of flight, and to encourage students to
enter careers in aerospace fields. The requirements for the contest are
rigorous and extremely challenging, he said, and proved to be quite difficult
for high school students. Nevertheless, one team in the regional fly-offs
reported a qualifying flight that hit the 1,500 foot altitude requirement
perfectly! Douglass said the national fly-off would be a golden opportunity
for colleges to recruit high school students for aerospace engineering
studies. “Some of the sharpest and most creative young minds are taking part
in this contest,” he said. “Tomorrow’s aerospace engineers — the ones who
will design and fly the next generation of military aircraft, or develop
spacecraft with solar sail technologies — are cutting their teeth on these
model rockets.”
Guests at the finals include NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe, and NASA
engineer and author Homer Hickam, the original “rocket boy” who inspired the
movie “October Sky,” and Art Stephenson, Director of the Marshall Space Flight
Center. In addition, Jay Apt, a NASA astronaut who flew four times as a
mission specialist on the space shuttle, has agreed to be one of the two range
safety officers for the competition.
For more information about AIA’s Team America Rocketry Challenge,
including details on how to sponsor a high school team and to apply for press
credentials to attend the finals, visit www.rocketcontest.org .
