The NASA Student Launch challenge has been rescheduled to April 11, due to weather concerns. More than 30 high school, college and university teams from across the nation will launch student-built rockets during the 15thanniversary of this event.
All launches will take place at Bragg Farms in Toney, Alabama, minutes north of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. Opening ceremony will begin at 7:30 a.m. CDT with guest speakers from NASA Marshall, Orbital ATK and others.
The first round of rocket launches will begin immediately after the opening ceremony and continue throughout the day, until the final launch is complete. In the event of rain, the launch event is tentatively scheduled to move to April 12 – weather permitting.
The NASA Centennial Challenges program, new sponsor of Student Launch, will present its prizes at the launch site April 11 — should any teams complete their specified requirements. Orbital ATK, the challenge sponsor, will announce its preliminary award winners during the awards banquet at 6:30 p.m., April 10, at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. The awards banquet is open to the media. Real-time coverage of the banquet and awards presentation will be provided on the NASA Student Launch Twitter account — @NASA_Launchfest.
The winning team competing for the Orbital ATK top prize will be announced in the days to come, once post-flight data has been verified.
Student Launch requires teams to design and construct high-powered rockets and ground support equipment and launch scientific payloads, all while meeting real-world NASA criteria.
Student Launch is managed by Marshall’s Academic Affairs Office and supported by the NASA Office of Education, the Human Explorations Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Centennial Challenges and Orbital ATK Propulsion Systems of Promontory, Utah. The Centennial Challenges program is managed at Marshall and is supported by the Space Technology Mission Directorate.
Media interested in covering any events should contact Angela Storey of the Marshall Public & Employee Communications Office at 256-544-0034 no later than 3 p.m., April 10.
For more information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/education/studentlaunch
Student Launch is open to the public viewing and will be covered live on NASA Television, as well as Marshall’s Ustream and Twitter accounts:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc
https://twitter.com/NASA_Launchfest
For more information about the Mars Ascent Vehicle Prize, visit:
The MAV Prize teams and awards ceremony will be followed by the Centennial Challenges social media accounts:
