COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

P.O. BOX 2120

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120

PRINS. MEMO NO. 42

November 4, 2003

ELEMENTARY / MIDDLE / SECONDARY

TO:	Principals
FROM:	Patricia I. Wright Assistant Superintendent for Instruction
SUBJECT:	Team America Rocketry Challenge

The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) has teamed with the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) to sponsor the "Team America Rocketry Challenge," a rocket design and launch contest for U.S. middle and high school students. The top ten student teams will share a total prize pool worth over $50,000.

The Challenge involves designing, building, and flying a multi-stage model rocket weighing no more than 3.3 pounds at liftoff. The payload requirements involve taking two raw eggs, remaining unbroken in flight, to exactly 1250 feet, then return the payload safely and undamaged. Altitudes will be determined by an electronic barometric altimeter, carried within the rocket. One hundred of the best teams will compete in a fly-off at Great Meadow, The Plains, Virginia, on May 15, 2004.

To obtain the contest-entry application, visit the AIA website at: http://www.rocketcontest.org

AIA represents the nation's major manufacturers of commercial, military and business aircraft, helicopters, aircraft engines, missiles, spacecraft, related components, and other materials. The NAR is the nation's largest and oldest non-profit organization for sport-rocketry consumers, focusing primarily on education, public information, and the establishment of nationally recognized safety standards for sport-rocket motors and sport-rocket flying.

For additional information contact Nicole Towle at (703) 358-1031 or rocketcontest@aia-aerospace.org.

PIW/GRW/ahr