ARLINGTON, Va., May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Bragging rights as the best
model rocket team in the nation are up for grabs this weekend as hundreds
of students gather at Great Meadow near Washington D.C. for the final round
fly- off of the world's largest rocket contest.
The fourth annual installment of the Team America Rocketry Challenge
will feature intense aerial competition as more than 500 middle and high
school students battle for a share of more than $60,000 in prizes.
About 7,000 students on 678 teams from 47 states and the District of
Columbia took part in regional competition, with the top 100 squads
reaching the final. Winning teams share a prize pool of more than $60,000
in savings bonds and cash. Former Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, one of the fist
two men to land on the moon, leads a group of VIPs from NASA, DoD, the
European Space Agency, and other groups. Other attractions during the event
are a flyover by the U.S. Marine Corps, an unmanned aerial vehicle
demonstration, and high-powered rocket launches.
The only national rocket competition for middle and high school teams,
TARC is sponsored by AIA and the National Association of Rocketry in
partnership with NASA, the Defense Department, and the Civil Air Patrol. A
total of 39 AIA member companies are sponsoring this year's challenge. NASA
and DoD have contributed additional prizes, including a chance for students
to build an advanced rocket, and science and technology tool kits for
teachers. AIA member company Raytheon is sending the winning team to the
Farnborough International Airshow near London in July.
Student teams come from middle or high schools or community groups such
as 4-H clubs or scouting troops. They design and construct the rockets
themselves -- they are not from model kits -- using knowledge of physics
and mathematics. AIA President and CEO John W. Douglass said the contest
goal is to encourage students to study advanced math and sciences and to
consider studying aerospace fields in college.
This year's contest is more challenging than previous years because
teams must shoot for goals covering both flight altitude and duration. Past
years' competitions had just one of the criteria. The finalists are
attempting to launch their rockets 800 feet with a flight lasting 45
seconds, with the closest to both winning. The rockets' raw-egg payload
must return to the ground unbroken.
Last year a team from Dakota County 4-H in Minnesota took top honors.
For more information about AIA's Team America Rocketry Challenge visit
http://www.rocketcontest.org.
Founded in 1919, the Aerospace Industries Association represents the
nation's leading manufacturers and suppliers of civil, military, and
business aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, space systems,
aircraft engines, materiel, and related components, equipment services, and
information technology.
SOURCE Aerospace Industries Association
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Related links:
http://www.aia-aerospace.org
http://www.rocketcontest.org
CONTACT:
Matt Grimison of Aerospace Industries
Association, +1-703-358-1076, cell: +1-571-217-0881,
matt.grimison@aia-aerospace.org
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