Rocket Challenge Winners to Compete at Farnborough

May 18, 2010 — A high school team from Pennsylvania took national honors at the 8th annual Team America Rocketry Challenge competition, and won a trip to the Farnborough International Air Show in July where they will complete against the UK and French national champions in an international challenge. The Penn Manor High School team, from Millersville, won the TARC, the world’s largest rocket contest, after spending months designing, building and test launching their model rocket. The competition began last September with 669 teams from across the nation vying for a chance to compete among the top 100 qualifying teams at the finals held May 15 outside of Washington, D.C. “In preparation for the national finals, we analyzed our data and adjusted our rocket as we repeatedly test launched,” Brendan Stoeckl, Penn Manor High School team member, said Saturday. “Today we anticipated some wind and increased afternoon temperatures, and made just the right adjustments to bring home the victory.” The first place team logged the winning score of 26.32. Each point represents a deviation from altitude and time aloft targets, so the lower the score, the better. Marticville Middle School from Pequea, Pennsylvania, took second place with a score of 30.65, while Bob Jones High School from Madison, Alabama, placed third with a score of 31.02. The first and second place teams belong to the same rocket club, Penn Manor Rocket Club, and were mentored by Brian Osmolinski, a physics teacher, according to a Business Wire story. Members of the winning Penn Manor High School team are Stoeckl, Jordan Franssen, Nate Bernhardt and Tyler Funk - all seniors. This year, student teams were challenged to design, build and launch a model rocket to an altitude of 825 feet with a flight time of 40-45 seconds, as well as return a raw egg payload to the ground unbroken without a parachute. The contest, sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry, is intended to spark students’ interest in aerospace careers and in science, technology, engineering and mathematics — or STEM — college degree programs. Almost 60 percent of the U.S. aerospace workforce is 45 or older and beginning to retire in large numbers, according to AIA statistics.

The 2010 Team America Rocketry Challenge winning team, Penn Manor High School from Millersville, Pennsylvania, poses with Secretary of U.S. Air Force Michael Donley and Raytheon's John Rood Photo credit: Business Wire A rocket blasts off during the 2010 Team American Rocketry Challenge. Photo credit: TARC

• 2012 - 02/07 -Migration Ends as Whooping Cranes Decide to Stop Flying
• 2012 - 02/07 - NASA Unveils Future Commercial Aircraft Designs
• 2012 - 02/01 - NASA Launches Space Race Blastoff on Facebook
• 2012 - 02/01 - Biologist Aims for Greenest Around-the-World Flight
• 2012 - 01/27 - Ground Broken for New Atlantis Home