Air Force's National Museum Qualifies For Largest Rocket Contest

More than 6,000 students from 643 teams attempted to meet the contest's rigorous requirements, but only the top scoring 100 high school teams qualified to compete in the national contest. Titan team members include: Brad Theilman (team captain), Joshua Robinson, Matthew Robinson, Wade Wyatt, Jeremy Haak, John Staggenborg and Brian Kessie. The team will now travel to Great Meadow, in The Plains, Va., for the May 17 national fly-off.

The team designed, built and tested a rocket, named Falcon I, which is about 4 feet tall and weighs almost 3 pounds. Both the team and rocket name were chosen to reflect their Air Force ties.

The contest requires that students design, build and test a model rocket that can fly the closest to 45 seconds in total flight duration and at the maximum of 750 feet of flight altitude, with a payload of two raw eggs, and successfully parachute the eggs back to the ground unbroken.

The top ten teams will share a prize pool of $60,000 for scholarships and other prizes, and the winning team will get a free VIP trip to the Farnborough Air Show near London in July.

"I can think of no better way to interest students in the core subjects of science, technology, engineering and math than to teach rocketry. It draws from all of these key areas in a way that excites and involves the students in a fun, hands-on process," said museum aerospace educator and team supervisor Cindy Henry. "I have really enjoyed helping these students work together as a team to reach their goal of making it into the finals of this competition. They inspire me with their determination and hard work. I am very proud of the team and am looking forward to seeing them compete in the final fly-off."

The TARC contest gives the participating students the desire and motivation to learn new skills and to use them in a very practical way, said Henry. -- www.nationalmuseum.af.mil