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.

FMI: www.rocketcontest.org; www.aia-aerospace.org