Jul 25 2005
Student rocketeers will have a doubly difficult task next year after the Team America Rocketry Challenge revamped the rules to include both height and time aloft for the first time.
Middle and high school students building the handmade rockets will try to shoot them to an altitude as close as possible to 800 feet while staying airborne for as close as possible to 45 seconds. As always, the rockets will carry a raw-egg payload that must return to the ground unbroken.
The event, co-sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry, is the world's largest rocket contest. An estimated 10,000 students took part last year, with a team from the Dakota County 4-H Federation in Minnesota taking top honors.
The Defense Department joins NASA as a government partner in the 4th annual TARC. A total of 39 AIA member companies give the contest financial support.
The first 750 teams to submit an application package postmarked on or before Nov. 15 will be allowed to compete in next year's event. The packages will be available Sept. 7. The national finals are scheduled for May 20 at Great Meadow in The Plains, Virginia. The complete rules and additional information are available at http://www.rocketcontest.org.