Tue, Mar 25, 2003
The Aerospace Industries Association just
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.
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."
Highest Levels Showing Their Interest
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.
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