got geoint?

This past weekend, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) announced the results of the final round of the Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC), the world’s largest rocket contest between 100 student rocketry teams. Qualifying teams of middle- and high-school students have the chance to earn $60,000 in scholarships and prizes. The TARC champion will also win the opportunity to compete internationally at an air show near London in July. And, the word is that the Penn Manor High School team is the winner.

TARC teams are challenged to design, build and launch a model rocket with a raw-egg payload to an altitude of 825 feet and achieve a flight duration between 40 and 45 seconds. The rocket must return the egg safely and unbroken without using a parachute. The goal of the contest is to bolster student interest in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields and attract more young people into aerospace careers. The STEM labor force is aging. Across all degree levels and fields, about 26 percent of workers with science or engineering degrees are older than age 50.

AIA co-sponsors the world’s largest rocket contest event with the National Association of Rocketry in conjunction with NASA, the Defense Department, the American Association of Physics teachers and more than 30 AIA member companies, with Raytheon once again providing a fully paid trip for the winning team to the air show in July. NASA also invites top teams to participate in its Student Launch Initiative advanced rocketry program. More than 50,000 youth have participated in the contest since its inception in 2003.

Tags: Aerospace Industries Association, AIA, GEOINT, geospatial intelligence, got geoint?, Penn Manor High School, Rockets, student rockets, Team America Rocketry Challenge, USGIF