WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The Air Capital STEM Club, a local rocket team, is taking off to the American Rocketry Challenge National Finals in Pueblo, Colo. the weekend of Saturday, June 19.
The American Rocketry Challenge is the aerospace and defense industry’s flagship program designed to encourage students to study and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
The team is one of 100 finalists competing for the title of this year’s National Champion and $100,000 in prizes. Over 5,000 students that make up more than 600 teams from 27 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands, are competing.
It is the world’s largest student rocket contest.
The rules for this year’s competition requires teams to design, build and launch a model rocket that carries one raw egg to three different altitude and time goals: 800 feet within 40 to 43 seconds for their qualifying flights, and then 775 feet within 39 to 42 seconds and 825 feet within 41 to 44 seconds at the National Finals- all with the rocket and egg returning to the ground intact.
The challenge promotes friendly competition among teams from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities and geographies. Numerous teams, including the Air Capital STEM Club, have launched fundraising campaigns to make their participation possible.
If you are interested in donating, you can check out their Facebook. You may also contact Bill Lindsay, the Wichita Area TARC Team coach and president, by calling (316) 880-5988 or Mark Logan, the Treasurer and Owner of the Science Education Center, at 1321 E Douglas in Wichita.
