The U.S. team's rocket is prepared for liftoff. Photo credit - Alex MacNaughton
U.S. Team Captures Silver at the 2012 International Rocketry Challenge
July 13, 2012 | All Stories, Top Stories, Photo, Multimedia | Rocketry
Raytheon-sponsored Madison West High School places second in International Rocketry Challenge at the Farnborough International Airshow
Raytheon-sponsored Madison West High School places second in International Rocketry Challenge at the Farnborough International Airshow
The Madison West High School Rocketry team of Madison, Wisconsin, placed second at the 2012 International Rocketry Challenge after the French team secured the world championship title.
The Madison West team - comprised of members Suzanne Hanle, Tashi Atruktsang, Hanwook Chung, Meng Lou and coach Chris Hager - earned a spot in the international competition by beating out more than 3,500 students earlier this year at the Team America Rocketry Challenge, in The Plains, Virginia. For the seventh consecutive year, Raytheon sponsored the U.S. team’s participation in the global contest.
While disappointed not to bring home the gold, Hager was impressed with the overall competition.
“You know that saying, ‘everyone's a winner?’ Well, I know each team really does feel like a winner because they all had successful launches,” he said.
The International Rocketry Challenge is the culmination of three separate competitions: Team America Rocketry Challenge, U.K. Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge and the French Rocketry Challenge.
The contest is scored on two components - presentation (40 percent) and flight performance (60 percent).
During the presentation round, the teams describe their rocket design and build process to a panel of judges. Then each team launches its rocket, with the goal of ascending to exactly 800 feet and a desired flight time of 43 to 47 seconds. Points are added for each foot off the target altitude and each second off the intended flight time. The lowest score wins.
Each rocket carries two raw eggs, which must return to Earth unbroken or the team is disqualified.
The final score was close, with the U.S. totaling 36 points to France's 22. The U.K. team's score was eliminated because one of their eggs broke.
This is Madison West’s second appearance on the worldwide student-rocket-launching stage. In 2009, Madison West competed at the 100th annual International Paris Air Show, but lost to the U.K. team.
