Rocketeering Challenge To Be Held April 15-20 In
Huntsville
NASA has invited 14 groups of ambitious young rocketeers from
11 middle schools, high schools and youth organizations around the
country to light up the sky over North Alabama during NASA's
2008-2009 Student Launch Initiative rocketry challenge.
The rocketeering challenge will be held April 15-20, 2009, when
student teams will converge on NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
in Huntsville, AL, for a professional review of their rockets by
NASA engineers. Day-long launch activities will take place at
nearby Bragg Farms in Toney.
The annual event, which Marshall manages, is designed to inspire
young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering
and mathematics -- fields important to NASA's exploration
mission.
Each team will design, build and field-test a rocket while
gaining real experience in managing complex, technical development
projects from the drawing board to the launch pad. They must
address twin challenges: designing a vehicle capable of traveling
to an altitude of 1 mile and devising an on-board science
experiment that can survive the trip and deliver data when the
rocket parachutes back to Earth.
Teams are eligible to participate in the program for one or two
years. Each new team receives a $3,700 grant, and each returning
team receives a $2,450 grant.
In addition to designing and flying working rockets,
participants will develop a project Web site, and write and submit
preliminary and post-launch reports like NASA engineers working
actual missions. Teams also will devise outreach projects for
schools or youth organizations in their area, helping to spread
interest in rocketry to students younger than themselves.
New to the challenge this year are teams from Boy Scouts of
America Troop 143 in Giddings, TX; Cheyenne Mountain Charter
Academy in Colorado Springs, CO; Denmark School District in
Madison, WI; Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles; and Mulberry
Grove High School in Mulberry Grove, IL.
Returning teams are from Frenship High School in Wolfforth, TX;
Krueger Middle School in San Antonio, TX; the Washington County 4-H
Club of Slinger, WI; and, with two teams, Plantation High School in
Plantation, FL. Schools with one returning team and one new team
include Madison West High School in Madison, WI and W.G. Enloe High
School in Raleigh, NC.