Brigham City, Utah, April 16, 2008 – Only three more days until rockets lift off into the Northern Alabama sky. A college-level rocket launch competition sponsored by Alliant Techsystems and hosted by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will take place April 19 at Bragg Farms located at 1180 Grimwood Road, Toney, Ala, with lift-off schedule for 9 a.m.
Ten college teams from around the country will convene for the University Student Launch Initiative (USLI) which challenges school teams to design, build and fly a reusable rocket with a scientific payload to exactly one mile in altitude. This is the second year of the USLI event, and the winning team will have the opportunity – courtesy of ATK Launch Systems and NASA – to see a space shuttle launch.
“The students who participate in USLI are our country’s next generation of rocket engineers and space industry experts,” said Michael Rudophi, vice president, ATK Launch Systems site operation and integrations. “By partnering with NASA for the USLI event, ATK looks to motivate and increase student exposure to scientific research and real-world engineering processes.”
Teams submitted proposals to NASA to participate in USLI during fall 2007 and, once selected, began designing their rockets and payloads throughout the school year. The rocket launch culminates nearly a year’s worth of design work, test flights and meticulous documentation, judged by panels of scientists and engineers from NASA and its partners.
The teams competing in the 2008 event are: Auburn University in Auburn, Ala.; Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Ala.; the University of Alabama in Huntsville; Harding University in Searcy, Ark.; Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Ms.; the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D.; Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn.; Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.; Utah State University in Logan, Utah; and the College of Menominee Nation in Green Bay, Wis.
For more information about NASA education programs, including the USLI, go to nasa.education.gov.
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