Aerospace Industries Association
UK Students Win International Rocket Contest Fly-Off
Student rocketeers from Madison West High School in Madison, Wi., and the Royal Liberty School in Romford Essex launched their rockets today in the Second Annual Transatlantic Rocket Fly-Off.
The five-member team from Royal Liberty School scored 39.54 to win the international fly-off for the UK the second year in a row. Madison West High School, the 2009 Team America Rocketry Challenge Champion, logged a score of 50.68. Each point represents a deviation from altitude and time aloft targets, so the lower the score, the better.
“We’re amazed that we can call ourselves world champions,” said Lewis Marr, UK team captain. “The team worked hard for six months and it feels great to be so successful.”
TARC and its British equivalent, the UK Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKAYRoC), brings together teams of middle and high students to design, build and launch model rockets with a raw-egg payload that must return to the ground unbroken. This year’s contest goals were an altitude of 750 feet and a flight time of 45 seconds with the egg situated horizontally to mimic the position of an astronaut.
Sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry in the U.S., and the Society of British Aerospace Companies, Tri Polus Ltd, UK Rocketry Association, Space Connections and the Royal Aeronautical Society in the UK, the programs are designed to encourage students to pursue careers in aerospace.
“Today’s contest demonstrates a tremendous global enthusiasm for aerospace,” said Marion Blakey, president and CEO of AIA. “The fact that thousands of students have taken part in these programs since their inception is an encouraging sign for our industries. We are looking forward to other countries joining the international championship next year.”
As part of their prize packages, the U.S. and UK champions will attend the International Paris Air Show in June. In addition, TARC champions share a prize pool of more than $60,000 in prizes and scholarships, as well as an invitation from NASA to participate in its Student Launch Initiative, an advanced rocketry program. Raytheon Company sponsors the U.S. team at the Paris Air Show and Lockheed Martin Corporation provides $5,000 scholarships to each of the top three TARC winners.
AIA created the Team America Rocketry Challenge in 2003 to celebrate the centennial of flight and to generate interest in aerospace careers among young people. The success of the program encouraged UK aerospace industry leaders to create the UKAYRoC in 2007 with similar goals in mind.
Members of the Royal Liberty School team are: Lewis Marr, Robert Camp, Charlie Savill, Raymond Gray, and Callum Cooper. Their team advisor is Steve Flynn.
More information about TARC and UKAYRoC is available at www.rocketcontest.org and www.ukay-roc.org.uk. High-resolution images and broadcast-quality video are also available upon request.
