QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. Why is this contest being held? What are its goals?
   The Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry are co-sponsoring the Team America Rocketry Challenge, the world's largest model rocket contest. The main goal of the contest is to spark enthusiasm for careers in aerospace among middle and high school students who are making college and career choices. NASA, the Defense Department, the American Association of Physics Teachers, as well as 34 AIA member companies, are partners in this year's event.
   
   
2. What is the objective of the contest and what are the rules for deciding who wins it?
   The objective of this year's contest is to design and build a safe and stable model rocket flight vehicle and use it to lift a fragile payload (one raw hen's egg laid horizontally to mimic the position of an astronaut) to an altitude of exactly 750 feet and also for a total flight duration score of exactly 45 seconds, then return this payload safely and undamaged. Scores shall be based on how close the portion of the entry containing the egg comes to the designated target duration of 45 seconds and the designated target altitude of 750 feet.
   
   
3. Is it dangerous for the students to be working with rocket engines? Can these rockets explode and injure people?
   The rockets being flown are model rockets. They are built in accordance with the safety code of the National Association of Rocketry. In the 50+ years that this hobby has been in existence, no one has ever been killed by a model rocket. Model rockets are made of paper, balsa wood, plastic, and other safe non-metallic materials. The engines that the teams are required to use in their rockets are commercially-made, non-explosive, and rigorously safety tested by NAR before they can be sold to the public. They are available in hobby shops across the U.S. and are approved for public use in every state.
   
   
4. How large are the student teams? What grade level are they from?
   Team members must be students who are currently enrolled in grades seven through 12 in a U.S. school. The application for a team must come from a single school or a single U.S. incorporated non-profit youth organization (excluding the National Association of Rocketry, Tripoli Rocketry Association, or any other rocket club or organization). Teams may have members from other schools or other organizations. Teams must be supervised by an adult approved by the principal of the school, or by an officially-appointed adult leader of the youth organization. The minimum team size is three students and maximum is ten students.
   
   
5. How large is this contest?
   The Team America Rocketry Challenge is the largest rocket contest in the world. A total of 653 teams representing 45 states plus the District of Columbia are taking part in this year's contest. Based on qualifying flights, the top 100 teams were invited to attend the final fly-off on May 16, 2009.
   
   
6. How long did the students have to complete their rockets?
   Applications were made available in the fall of 2008, but most teams did not enter until close to the application deadline in December 2008. Teams then have to design and build a rocket in time to complete a local qualifying flight by April 2009.
   
   
7. Are the teams using kits for their rockets?
   There are no commercial model rocket kits available that are suitable for this event, and no sample designs were provided to the teams. The rockets were designed and built from scratch using math and physics skills the students have learned. Every team had to come up with their own unique design, using the basic principles of rocket engineering.
   
   
8. When and how were the local fly-offs held to determine which 100 teams would get to compete in the final fly-off?
   Each team is required to conduct a local qualifying flight by April 2009, in front of an official observer in their area who was an adult member of the National Association of Rocketry. Teams then submit official signed reports from these flights to the Team America national staff, who select the top 100 teams based on the scores reported by the NAR observers. In order to make the finals, teams had to fly a rocket that functioned safely to an altitude of exactly 750 feet for a total flight duration score of exactly 45 seconds, without breaking the egg payload.
   
   
9. What concepts and skills did the students have to master to complete successful rocket entries for this contest?
   The teams that designed and built successful rockets for this event and made the finals had to learn and apply all of the basic skills of aerospace engineering. They used physics and math to calculate the flight trajectory of their rocket. They used aerospace design principles to calculate the aerodynamic stability of their rockets and to select the component parts to use in assembling it. And they used aerospace systems engineering skills to do the tradeoffs among flight vehicle size, weight, and engine power in order to get their rocket to take a specified payload to an exact time aloft.
   
   
10. Why did this contest require that teams of at least three to enter? Why were single-person entries not allowed?
    Aerospace engineering is always done by teams; the systems are too complex for one person to do it all. The ability to work as part of a team is as much a required skill of professionals in the field as is the ability to do math. This is why team entries were required in this event. According to the teachers and parents who have been involved, working on a difficult technical problem as part of a team has been one of the most valuable experiences the students have gained from this competition.
    
    
11. How do model rockets work?
    Model rockets for this contest are re-usable flight vehicles weighing less than 3.3 pounds at liftoff that are made of lightweight non-metallic materials such as paper, plastic, and balsawood and are propelled by commercially made non-reusable rocket engines. For safety reasons, they are launched electrically from a distance, and they always have a recovery system such as a parachute to ensure a safe return so they can be flown again with a fresh rocket engine. They are endorsed by NASA, the U.S. Air Force, Civil Air Patrol, 4-H, the Boy Scouts of America, and many educational organizations as a safe and effective teaching tool, and they are legal in every state.
    
    
12. What is the National Association of Rocketry?
    The National Association of Rocketry is the nation's oldest and largest non-profit organization dedicated to hobby rocketry. It was founded in 1957 to provide a voice for rocketry consumers, to serve as the national standard-setting organization for hobby rocketry safety codes, and to conduct safety testing and certification of all model rocket engines sold in the U.S. Operating from Altoona, Wisc., the NAR has about 5,000 members and 120 clubs nationwide. Its members are adult leaders, organizers of local rocketry groups, and advanced hobbyists of all ages.
    
    
13. What is the Aerospace Industries Association?
    The Aerospace Industries Association is the voice of the U.S. aerospace industry, representing the nation's leading manufacturers and suppliers of civil, military, and business aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, space systems, aircraft engines, missiles, materiel, and related components, equipment, services, and information technology. Consisting of almost 300 members, AIA achieves consensus among its members and others on solutions to industry-wide issues.
     

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