It was one of Aero-TV's favorite shoots from 2010... The Team
America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) is an aerospace design and
engineering event for teams of US secondary school students (7th
through 12th grades) run by the NAR and the Aerospace Industries
Association (AIA). Teams can be sponsored by schools or by
non-profit youth organizations such as Scouts, 4-H, or Civil Air
Patrol (but not the NAR or other rocketry organizations).
The goal of TARC is to motivate students to pursue aerospace as
an exciting career field, and it is co-sponsored by the American
Association of Physics Teachers, 4-H, the Department of Defense,
and NASA. The event involves designing and building a model rocket
(2.2 pounds or less, using NAR-certified model rocket motors) that
carries a payload of 1 Grade A Large egg for a flight duration of
40 - 45 seconds, and to an altitude of exactly 750 feet (measured
by an onboard altimeter), and that then returns the egg to earth
uncracked using only a 15-inch parachute as a recovery device.
Onboard timers are allowed; radio-control and pyrotechnic charges
are not.
The first eight Team America Rocketry Challenges, held in 2003
through 2010, were the largest model rocket contests ever held.
Co-sponsored by the NAR and the Aerospace Industries Association
(AIA), the eight events together attracted about 5,800 high-school
teams made up of a total of over 55,000 students from all 50
states.
These students had a serious interest in learning about
aerospace design and engineering through model rocketry. The top
100 teams each year came to a final fly-off competition in late May
near Washington, DC, to compete for $60,000 in prizes and a free
trip to a major air show in Europe. These teams were selected based
on the scores reported from qualification flights that they
conducted locally throughout the US.
Team America Rocketry Challenge 2011's target flight duration of
40-45 seconds is measured from the moment of rocket liftoff until
the egg payload lands. The target flight altitude of 750 feet is
measured by an onboard electronic altimeter. The top 100 teams from
among all those who have entered will meet in a final fly-off
competition on May 14, 2011 at Great Meadow, The Plains, VA. These
top 100 teams will be selected based on the duration and altitude
scores reported from local qualification flights that they conduct
in front of an NAR Senior (adult) member observer at their choice
of time up until the flight deadline of April 4, 2011.
Join Aero-TV and NAR's John Langford as we look back again at
the truly inspiring 2010 event.
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