Aerospace Industries Association
AIA News 2007
Registration Opens for Worlds Largest Rocket Contest
New Criteria Set for 2008 Challenge
September 06, 2007
Arlington, Va. - Thousands of students across the country can start their efforts toward becoming champion rocketeers as registration opens for the Team America Rocketry Challenge. Applications for the world's largest rocket contest are now available at www.rocketcontest.org. Teams of middle and high school students have until Nov. 30 to complete the paperwork and register for the challenge, which is in its sixth year. They have until April 7 to conduct a qualifying launch and earn a trip to the final round of the competition, scheduled for May 17 at Great Meadow in The Plains, Va. The registration fee is $90. A total of $60,000 in scholarships is at stake in the contest. The new contest rules call for the teams to launch a handmade rocket to an altitude of 750 feet while staying aloft for 45 seconds. A major difference for the 2008 challenge is the rule calling for the rocket to carry a payload of two raw eggs, rather than one. Both eggs must be unbroken for the team to receive a score on the launch. AIA sponsors the contest along with the National Association of Rocketry. NASA and the Defense Department co-sponsor, along with the American Association of Physics Teachers and 37 AIA member companies. Students in grades 7-12 in any U.S. school or non-profit youth organization are eligible to compete in TARC. About 7,000 students took part in the contest last year, and a total of approximately 42,000 since the first TARC in 2003. Last year's champion was from Newark (California) Memorial High School. Visit TARC on the web at www.rocketcontest.org for additional contest details and to sign up for updates. The site also features the new RocketBlog!, which will carry updates and other information throughout the year.