Raytheon-Sponsored Texas High School Team Wins International Rocket Fly-Off at Paris Air Show
The U.S. team from Rockwall-Heath High School in Heath, Texas, was the first place winner of the International Rocketry Challenge, at the 2011 Paris Air Show.
"This has been terrific," said Rockwall-Heath Team President John Easum, who will be attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the fall. "We knew we had a great design and had calculated the variables, but until you shoot the rocket you can't really be sure. What a way to end our team experience with the Team America Rocketry Challenge."
The International Rocketry Challenge is the culmination of three separate competitions: Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC), UK Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKAYRoC) and the French Rocketry Challenge. Each team was asked to launch a rocket that lifted off to exactly 750 feet during a 40- to 45-second flight. The payload, a raw egg, had to return to the ground by parachute undamaged. As part of their score, the teams also presented their rocket design to a panel of international judges.
Sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the National Association of Rocketry, the International Rocketry Challenge encourages students to pursue careers in the aerospace industry and works toward securing the pipeline of students with skills in science, technology, engineering and math.
"We're thrilled with the team's success," said Marion C. Blakey, president and CEO of AIA. "It's quite a feat to make it to the national fly-off in the United States. And now to have won the international challenge is quite impressive. We're looking for this group of young people to help take this industry to new heights in a few years."
Raytheon, a major event sponsor, has sent the winning TARC team to compete in the International Rocketry Challenge for the past six years. The fly-off at the air show was also sponsored by ADS, Tri Polus, Space Connections and the Royal Aeronautical Society in the U.K.; and GIFAS and Planéte Sciences in France.
