Local Students Head To American Rocketry Challenge

CHARLOTTE, NC — Local students Bryce Hall, Mattelyn Chapman, and Valeria Batista from Victory Christian Center School stopped by Rising to talk about The American Rocketry Challenge.

Finalists are vying for $100,000 in prizes and the title of National Champion, which includes an all-expense paid trip to compete in the International Rocketry Challenge at the Paris Air Show in June. The National Finals will take place on May 20, at Great Meadow in The Plains, Virginia.

Victory Christian Center School has participated in the competition since 2012.

For this year’s competition, each of the teams from 45 states designed, built, and launched model rockets that safely carries one large hen egg to an altitude of 850 feet, stays airborne for between 42 and 45 seconds, and returns the rocket to the ground safely. The twist is, one section of the rocket must contain the egg and altimeter, and the second the rocket motor(s). Both tubes must also separate after apogee and land with their own parachutes.

“For the last 21 years, the American Rocketry Challenge has inspired and cultivated thousands of scientists, engineers, and business leaders working on today’s most dynamic aerospace missions,” Eric Fanning, the president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, said in a released statement. “When 100 teams compete for the title of National Champion in May, it is fitting that a Challenge alumnus will be circling above them as an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. I can’t wait to see which team’s ingenuity and critical thinking will help them earn the title of National Champion!”

For more information about the contest, click here.