Ask any of the kids competing in the May
10th Team America Rocketry Challenge and they will tell you, “This is rocket
science.” About 750 high school students from across the nation will bring
their hand-made model rockets to Great Meadows, in The Plains, VA, to compete
in the world’s largest rocket contest for an award of $59,000. The contest
requirements are tough: Build a two-stage rocket that can fly to an altitude
of 1,500 feet — no more, no less — release a payload of two raw eggs, and
parachute the eggs back to the ground unbroken.

Nearly 900 high school teams competed in regional fly-offs this year, but
only the 100 highest-scoring teams could take part in the finals. The top 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.

Sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National
Association of Rocketry, the contest was created to celebrate the 100th
anniversary of flight, and to encourage interest in aerospace design and
engineering among high school students. AIA President and CEO John W.
Douglass said that the aerospace industry foresees a period in the near future
when economic growth returns, and the industry’s aging workforce retires,
leaving increased demand for aerospace products and a severe workforce
deficit. But primarily, he said, the contest was designed to show students
that science can be fun.

The contest will start at 8:30 a.m. on May 10 and at 5 p.m. the top
scoring teams will be presented with their awards. Participants include:
NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe, U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, Director of the
Marshall Space Flight Center Art Stephenson, NASA engineer and author Homer
Hickam, whose book inspired the movie “October Sky,” and U.S. Centennial of
Flight Commission Chairman and National Air and Space Museum Director Gen.
J.R. (Jack) Dailey. Jay Apt, a NASA astronaut who flew four times as a
mission specialist on the space shuttle, will be one of the two range safety
officers for the competition.

For more information about AIA’s Team America Rocketry Challenge and to
apply for press credentials to attend the finals, visit www.rocketcontest.org

Visit AIA’s homepage at www.aia-aerospace.org