Date posted: 05/20/2009*

Raytheon was the primary sponsor at the 7th annual Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) finals, held Saturday, May 16, at Great Meadow in The Plains, Va. TARC, the world’s largest rocket competition, is designed to inspire students to learn the principles of aerospace engineering and to encourage them to consider careers in the aerospace industry.

A four-member student team, from Madison West High School in Madison, Wis., took first place at the TARC finals, taking on the title of national champion. Immediately following their win, the national champions participated in the second annual Transatlantic Rocket Fly-Off with the winning U.K. team from the Royal Liberty School in Romford Essex. The British rocketeers came out on top, winning the international fly-off for the U.K. for the second consecutive year.

Secretary of the U.S. Air Force Michael Donley was a spectator at this year’s TARC competition and was invited to present awards to the winning U.S and U.K. teams.

Road to Success
The TARC competition kicked off last September. Approximately 7,000 middle and high school students from 45 states and the District of Columbia took part in the qualifying rounds of the competition. Each team had until April 6 to submit qualifying scores, which were achieved by launching their rockets in their home region under the supervision of a judge from the National Association of Rocketry.

The top 100 winning teams were then invited to participate in last week’s TARC finals. This year, the student teams were asked to design, build and launch a model rocket at an altitude of 750 feet with a flight time of 45 seconds, as well as a raw-egg payload laid horizontally to mimic the position of an astronaut. The egg had to return to earth unbroken in order for the launch to qualify.

The Madison West High School team claimed the national championship with a winning score of 20.54. Each point represents a deviation from altitude and time aloft targets, so the lower the score, the better. Festus High School from Festus, Mo., took second place with a score of 25.92 while New Site High School from New Site, Ms., placed third with a score of 36.3.

Next Stop for the Winning Teams: Paris
Next up for both the U.S. and U.K. champions is a Raytheon-sponsored trip to the International Paris Air Show in June. In addition to the trip to Paris, the TARC winners share a prize package of $60,000 in scholarships and prizes with other top finishers, as well as an invitation from NASA to participate in its Student Launch Initiative, an advanced rocketry program.

Building Interest in Math and Science
Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President and CEO Marion Blakey stated that the contest was a success in achieving its goal of attracting young people to consider careers in aerospace and advancing their studies in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. She also noted that it’s an encouraging sign that a promising pipeline of future employees exists for the aerospace industry.

In a survey conducted with the 650 TARC participants, it was reported that 83 percent of the students became more interested in math and science because of the TARC competition; 81 percent gained a better understanding of how math, science and technology are used to solve problems in the real world and more than 75 percent gained a sense of self-confidence by participating in the contest.

The 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. TARC is a joint effort between the AIA and the National Association of Rocketry. It is sponsored by NASA, the Defense Department, the American Association of Physics Teachers and 34 AIA member companies.