Students part of rocket program
Members of the Russellville City Schools Robotics Team are taking part in the Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) being held across the country.
As part of the competition, students have to design and build a rocket, which team sponsor Lee Brownell said the students have done.
“We have rocket simulation software and these students knew what they needed in order to build the rocket, so we ordered all the different parts and they built this rocket entirely by themselves,” Brownell said. “They built it from individual parts, not a kit, and they designed it on their own. They’ve really worked hard.”
TARC rules specify that schools are only allowed to have two official launches during which the rocket has to meet the following criteria: the rocket must reach a height as close to 750 feet as possible; the time of the launch from the time the rocket starts to move off its base until it lands must be between 40 and 45 seconds; and the egg attached to the rocket must remain intact throughout the entire launch.
The team held their first official launch on March 16 and, according to Brownell, their rocket reached an altitude of 683 feet with a time of 44.3 seconds and the egg remained unbroken.
On Thursday, the team planned to hold the second official launch, but die to windy weather conditions, the launch has been planned for one day next week.
“I suspect our first launch will probably be our best, but you never know,” Brownell said. “We’ll do the second official launch to see if we can get any closer and then see where we stand after that.”
Brownell said the Robotics Team will submit the best launch to TARC to see if they make the Top 100.
“There are around 650 teams competing in the challenge and the Top 100 get to travel to Washington D.C. to compete in the national finals,” Brownell said. “The Top 10 finishers there will receive prizes and scholarship money.”
Additional prizes sponsored by companies like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon include more scholarship money and a trip to an international air show.
