April 28, 2009 — They’re just model rockets, but the middle school and high school students competing in the Team America Rocketry Challenge next month had to learn and apply all the basic skills of aerospace engineering to build them.
They used physics and math to calculate the flight trajectory of their rocket. They used aerospace design principles to calculate the aerodynamic stability of their rockets and to select the component parts to use in assembling it. And they used aerospace systems engineering skills to do the tradeoffs among flight vehicle size, weight, and engine power in order to get their rocket to take a specified payload to an exact time aloft.
The seventh annual competition requires teams to design, build and launch model rockets with a raw-egg payload that must return to the ground unbroken. The rockets must also transport the egg laid horizontally to mimic the position of an astronaut, have a flight time of 45 seconds and an altitude of 750 feet.
More than 650 teams from 45 states and the District of Columbia took part in the qualifying rounds. The final 100 middle school and high school teams represent 29 states and the District of Columbia and will compete for the title of “National Champion” on May 16 in The Plains, Virginia.
But that’s not all they could win. The national finalists will be competing for their share of $60,000 in cash and scholarships and a trip to the Paris International Airshow.
Click here to see a listing of the finalists by state.
The goal of the contest is to bolster student interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – STEM – education in an effort to attract young people to aerospace careers.
The 2008 winner was Enloe High School in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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