2019 Student Launch Competition

 

POSTED ON Jun 18, 2019

 

Students met in Huntsville, Alabama recently to showcase their rockets prior to the 2019 Launch Competition. The contest is a collaboration to help the next generation explore the Moon and travel to Mars. Funding for the challenge was provided by NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate and the Office of STEM Engagement, Northrop Grumman, and the Huntsville chapter of the National Space Club.

The student teams designed and built a rocket with a payload, and engaged in real-life tests faced by NASA engineers as they design the Space Launch System rocket to send astronauts and payloads to the Moon.

In the photo taken by NASA’s Fred Deaton, the University of Hawai’i Community Colleges team from Honolulu, Hawai’i, shows off their rocket and payload at the annual Student Launch Rocket Fair at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville on April 5.

The rocket had to reach an altitude between 4,000 and 5,500 feet. The payload had to be a drone or rover that deployed from the rocket after the rocket landed.

“The 2019 Student Launch competition was extremely competitive as the teams were challenged with complex altitude and payload requirements,” said Katie Wallace, the Student Launch program manager at Marshall. “The teams rose to the challenge and brought innovation, creativity, and excellence to the competition.”

The top 10 finishers in the college/university division are:

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte
University of Akron, Ohio
Oregon State University, Corvallis
California State University Long Beach
The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas
North Carolina State University, Raleigh
University of Hawaii Community Colleges, Honolulu
University of South Florida, Tampa

Marshall’s Office of STEM Engagement manages Student Launch, encouraging students to pursue degrees and careers in the STEM fields.