We have liftoff! Rocket blasts toward the sky during Team America Rocketry Challenge, held outside Washington, D.C.
Credit: AIA

A popular attraction at the rocket competition was a Coalition for Space Exploration-sponsored photo booth.
Credit: Coalition for Space Exploration

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Rockets roared and sped into the sky - not from Cape Canaveral in Florida or from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The May 17 liftoff site was from a 250-acre field events center and steeplechase course 45 miles from Washington, D.C., at Great Meadow in The Plains, Virginia. This is home ground for the national Sixth Annual Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC), sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry.

The rocket contest presented the top 100 teams from around the country with a dual challenge. They had to launch their rockets as close as possible to an altitude of 750 feet with a flight time of 45 seconds, while returning a payload of two raw eggs unbroken to the ground.

Encouraging sign

About 7,000 middle and high school students on 643 teams from 43 states and the District of Columbia took part in the qualifying rounds of competition. Each team had until April 7 to submit qualifying scores, which were achieved by launching their rockets in their home region under the supervision of a judge from the National Association of Rocketry.

The contest is designed to encourage students to consider careers in aerospace, as almost 60 percent of the U.S. aerospace workforce is 45 or older, according to Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) statistics.

AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey said, “I applaud not only the winners, but every student who took part, and the teachers and mentors who helped along the way. This is an encouraging sign as the aerospace industry faces a looming workforce shortage.”

TARC activities included a Coalition for Space Exploration photo booth. Over 300 pictures of some 800 participants – including many team pictures – were taken during the event.

And the winner is…

A team from Enloe High School in Raleigh, North Carolina won the national Sixth Annual TARC, beating out 99 rivals for the title.

The 10-member team from Enloe High School rose to the top of squads of middle and high school-aged students facing off in the final round of what is billed as the world’s largest rocket competition.

Mulberry Grove High School from Mulberry Grove, Ill., took second place. Kickapoo High School from Springfield, Mo., placed third in the contest.

The next stop for the winning team is a trip to the Farnborough International Airshow and a fly-off against the winners of the UK Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge from Horsforth Secondary School in Yorkshire.

Raytheon Company, a major supporter of the competition, is sponsoring the team’s trip as part of the TARC winner’s first prize package for the third year.

In addition to a trip to London, the winners share a prize pool of more than $60,000 with other top finishers. Lockheed Martin Corporation will provide $5,000 scholarships to each of the top three teams, and the teams also will receive an invitation from NASA to participate in its Student Launch Initiative, an advanced rocketry program. Other sponsors include the Department of Defense, the American Association of Physics Teachers and 34 AIA member companies.
TARC is becoming bigger and better every year with the attendees and prizes growing annually.
For detailed information on TARC, please go to:
http://www.aia-aerospace.org/tarc/