UK BEATS US IN ROCKET CONTEST

20 May 2009

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STUDENT rocketeers from Romford, Essex have beaten a US team to win the Second Annual Transatlantic Rocket Fly-Off.

The five-member team from Royal Liberty School scored 39.54 to win the international fly-off for the UK the second year. They had already won the UK Rocketry Challenge to earn their place at the Transatlantic Fly-off.

The US team was Madison West High School, Wisconsin, who are the 2009 Team America Rocketry Challenge Champion. They logged a score of 50.68. Each point represents a deviation from altitude and time aloft targets, so the lower the score, the better.

"We're amazed that we can call ourselves world champions," said Lewis Marr, UK team captain. "The team worked hard for six months and it feels great to be so successful."

TARC and its British equivalent, the UK Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKAYRoC), brings together teams of middle and high students to design, build and launch model rockets with a raw-egg payload that must return to the ground unbroken. This year's contest goals were an altitude of 750 feet and a flight time of 45 seconds with the egg situated horizontally to mimic the position of an astronaut.

Sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry in the US, and the Society of British Aerospace Companies, Tri Polus Ltd, UK Rocketry Association, Space Connections and the Royal Aeronautical Society in the UK, the programs are designed to encourage students to pursue careers in aerospace.

"Today's contest demonstrates a tremendous global enthusiasm for aerospace," said Marion Blakey, president and CEO of AIA. "The fact that thousands of students have taken part in these programs since their inception is an encouraging sign for our industries. We are looking forward to other countries joining the international championship next year."

As part of their prize packages, the U.S. and UK champions will attend the International Paris Air Show in June.

W: http://www.ukay-roc.org.uk/
 

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