Student Teams to Build and Fly Rockets With Onboard Payloads for NASA Rocketry Challenge

Nov. 13, 2012

Ann Marie Trotta
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1601
ann.marie.trotta@nasa.gov

Angela Storey
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
angela.d.storey@nasa.gov




RELEASE: 12-393

STUDENT TEAMS TO BUILD AND FLY ROCKETS WITH ONBOARD PAYLOADS FOR NASA ROCKETRY CHALLENGE

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Organizers of the NASA Student Launch Projects
have announced the 57 student teams whose inventive creations will
soar skyward in April during the space agency's 2012-13 rocketry
challenge.

Representing schools in 26 states around the country, participating
teams each will design and build a large, high-powered rocket,
complete with a working science or engineering payload and capable of
flying to the target altitude of 1 mile. NASA created the rocketry
challenge to encourage young people to pursue careers in the science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

"Every year, the NASA Student Launch Projects build on our students'
classroom studies in an energizing, exciting way," said Tammy Rowan,
manager of the Academic Affairs Office at NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., which organizes the event. "It's
great fun, but it also reflects the real-world complexity of planning
missions, building flight hardware and completing tough pre-flight
checks and reviews. It tests their problem-solving skills and gives
them practical, hands-on experience. We hope the experience is so
unforgettable it leads many of them to become the nation's next
generation of scientists, engineers and space explorers."

Twenty-one middle school and high school teams will take part in the
Student Launch Initiative, which is non-competitive. Thirty-six
college and university teams will compete in the University Student
Launch Initiative with a $5,000 first-place award provided by ATK
Aerospace Group of Salt Lake City going to the winner.

"We are proud to be sponsoring NASA's Student Launch Competition for
the sixth year," said Kent Rominger, a former astronaut who is vice
president of business development for ATK's Space Launch Division.
"Each year we are impressed with the level of skill and knowledge
these students exhibit. We are very optimistic and excited about the
caliber of individuals that could become our future work force."

Building the powerful rockets and designing and integrating the
onboard engineering or science payloads are only two parts of the
challenge. Teams also must maintain detailed preliminary and
post-launch reports, and build and regularly update a public website
to document their rocket-building experience. Each team also will
develop an educational engagement program to inspire and educate
younger students in their local school system and community.

In 2013, the teams will travel to Marshall, where their rockets will
undergo a series of intensive reviews and safety inspections -- a
smaller-scale version of the rigorous processes applied to the
nation's space vehicles. The culmination of their work is set for
April 21, when the students launch their creations one by one into
the skies over northern Alabama. Each will be seeking the elusive
1-mile altitude goal, as well as a variety of annual awards for
vehicle design, engineering excellence and team spirit.

The 26 states represented are Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia,
Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New
York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee,
Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. For a complete list of
middle and high school teams, and more information about the
challenge, visit:

http://education.msfc.nasa.gov/sli

For a list of the university teams, visit:

http://education.msfc.nasa.gov/usli

The NASA Student Launch Projects are sponsored jointly by NASA's Human
Exploration and Operations and Science mission directorates.

For more information about NASA education initiatives, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education


-end-



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