Five teams from Pennsylvania are among the 100 that will be participating in the Team America Rocketry Challenge national finals in May.
Three of the Commonwealth’s teams are made up of Spring Grove Area High School students while the two others are from Nazareth Academy High School, of Philadelphia, and Germantown Academy, from Fort Washington.
Earlier this year, 800 teams designed and built model rockets in hopes of qualifying for the finals. The rules required a rocket carrying two raw eggs to reach 800 feet before returning the eggs to Earth — uncracked — all within 41 to 43 seconds, according to the Team America Rocketry Challenge press release.
The national finalists, from 28 states and Washington D.C., are competing for more than $100,000 in prizes and scholarships as well as the chance to represent the United States at the global finals in July.
“What excites me about this incredible competition is how every year it inspires thousands of young women and men to consider careers in STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math — and aerospace,” SAID Eric Fanning, Aerospace Industries Association President and CEO. “Qualifying for the National Finals and ultimately representing the United States at the international competition involves teamwork, critical thinking and problem solving skills. I’m confident that these students will become the engineers and scientists that enable humans to land on Mars and beyond, and we look forward to hosting them in D.C. next month.”
The National Finals Fly-Off will be held on May 12 in The Plains, Virginia, which is just outside of Washington D.C.
More information on the contest can be found here.
