Millbrook School Team in Finals of National Rocketry Competition
A team from the Millbrook School is one of 101 national finalists in the Team America Rocketry Challenge, sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association. The students will compete against other teams composed of middle and high school-aged students at the National Finals, taking place at Great Meadow in The Plains, Virginia on May 18th. In addition to competing for a total of $100,000 in prizes, the winner of the National Finals will advance to the International Rocketry Challenge, taking place in Paris, France in June. The top 20 finishers will earn a spot in next year’s NASA Student Launch competition.
The team is being advised by Jeff LaCosse. The team’s rocket crashed a week before qualification flights, but it built and painted two new ones within five days and still qualified for the finals. From the team: “We don’t just build rockets. We work cohesively as a team, learn about carpentry, and create artistic designs. Most importantly, we are here to have fun.”
The Millbrook School team is one of 101 finalists among 830 teams that entered the competition from 46 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The competition, which is this year honoring the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, requires a team to launch a rocket carrying three raw eggs that must reach an altitude of at least 856 feet before separating and returning the uncracked eggs to earth – all within 43 and 46 seconds and with strict height and weight requirements. Now in its 17th year, the Rocketry Challenge has inspired more than 70,000 middle and high school students to explore education and careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields.
