Trip Barber
Active Member
The Aerospace Industries Association and NAR have agreed to hold another Team America Rocketry Challenge in 2004, due to the extraordinary success of the first Challenge in attracting over 9000 high-school students to get involved in rocketry and learn about aerospace engineering. All those in the NAR who were part of this year's event can fell proud of what they achieved in sparking this kind of interest across the U.S.
The 2004 event will be held on May 15, 2004, in the same site as this year, The Plains, VA. The rules will be approximately the same, except with a somewhat lower altitude target. Entry forms and rules will be posted on the event website www.rocketcontest.org, on September 2, 2003. Teams that entered this year and still have all their supplies will be able to enter for $60, the fee for new teams that need the full kit will be under $200. There will be multiple options for the altimeter this time so that we do not have to cap the number of entries.
One of the biggest factors in the success or failure of a team in
getting to the point of making a qualifying flight in 2003 was the
availability and involvement of an NAR "mentor". Some teams were far from any mentor, others were near mentors but never asked for his advice. These teams stuggled (although one finished in the top 5). Many teams linked up with mentors, though, and both parties thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Virtually none of the kids this year had any prior experience in
complex rocketry, and skills such as staging, clustering, finding
suppliers for rocketry parts, obtaining a launch site and doing FAA
notification, etc. look hard to beginners -- but a mentor can make
acquiring these skills less intimidating. Once over this initial
hurdle with the mentor's help, most teams become self-sustaining. Mentors are asked not to help with the design or construction of the actual rockets used in competition, just with the basic skills of rocketry.
I need additional "mentor" volunteers in many regions of the U.S., and will gladly take them from any region even if I already have some there. Next year's event is likely to be bigger than the 873 teams this year, and we will need LOTS of mentors! Only required qualifications are that you must be an NAR Senior member, preferably with experience in rockets powered by D through F engines and in staged rockets.
Please contact me if you can help as a mentor in the 2004 Team
America Rocketry Challenge. "Paying forward" to the next generation of rocketeers is part of what the NAR is all about.
Trip Barber
NAR VP
e-mail: [email protected]
phone: (703)866-4710
The 2004 event will be held on May 15, 2004, in the same site as this year, The Plains, VA. The rules will be approximately the same, except with a somewhat lower altitude target. Entry forms and rules will be posted on the event website www.rocketcontest.org, on September 2, 2003. Teams that entered this year and still have all their supplies will be able to enter for $60, the fee for new teams that need the full kit will be under $200. There will be multiple options for the altimeter this time so that we do not have to cap the number of entries.
One of the biggest factors in the success or failure of a team in
getting to the point of making a qualifying flight in 2003 was the
availability and involvement of an NAR "mentor". Some teams were far from any mentor, others were near mentors but never asked for his advice. These teams stuggled (although one finished in the top 5). Many teams linked up with mentors, though, and both parties thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Virtually none of the kids this year had any prior experience in
complex rocketry, and skills such as staging, clustering, finding
suppliers for rocketry parts, obtaining a launch site and doing FAA
notification, etc. look hard to beginners -- but a mentor can make
acquiring these skills less intimidating. Once over this initial
hurdle with the mentor's help, most teams become self-sustaining. Mentors are asked not to help with the design or construction of the actual rockets used in competition, just with the basic skills of rocketry.
I need additional "mentor" volunteers in many regions of the U.S., and will gladly take them from any region even if I already have some there. Next year's event is likely to be bigger than the 873 teams this year, and we will need LOTS of mentors! Only required qualifications are that you must be an NAR Senior member, preferably with experience in rockets powered by D through F engines and in staged rockets.
Please contact me if you can help as a mentor in the 2004 Team
America Rocketry Challenge. "Paying forward" to the next generation of rocketeers is part of what the NAR is all about.
Trip Barber
NAR VP
e-mail: [email protected]
phone: (703)866-4710
