Area students invited to participate in AIAA Rocketday! event

  • Published
  • By Deidre Ortiz
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  The Tennessee Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics is hosting a Rocketday! event for area students May 14 at the Hands-On Science Center in Tullahoma.

The event will be held 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and will include three rocket competitions and speakers on rocketry, with information on how to get started in model rocketry and a presentation from a member of the Music City Missile Club on high powered model rocketry.

The competitions are:

· Soda bottle rockets, 3rd grade - 8th grade

· Match head rockets, 3rd grade - 8th grade

· 2-liter rocket design/build/fly, 7th grade - 12th grade

"We are having several competitions for grade school and high school students," said Joe Sheeley, AIAA section chairman and senior technology engineer at AEDC. "For the younger children, we have two competitions where they can build and fly simple rockets for accuracy and distance. For the older kids, we're having the 'Two-Cool' rocket competition."

For the highly anticipated "Two-Cool" 2-liter rocket competition, at home the students will build unique rockets using any recyclable materials, paint, stickers, rubber bands, string and glue to bring to the competition. The basic rocket structure must be made using a 2-liter bottle, and the nozzle or bottle mouth must be unchanged, so that it will fit a #3 rubber stopper and can be launched.

Judging will be based on look of the rocket, engineering/design, flight and style. Students are encouraged to make a replica of the Saturn 5, the Star Wars Death Star, Space Shuttle, or make their own, "out-of-this-world" creation. 

There will be prizes for first and second place winners. The first prize in the "Two-Cool" competition is a quad-copter drone and second prize is a gift certificate.

"This is the first year for what I hope will grow into a local festival celebrating aerospace," Sheeley said.  "We have a great deal of aerospace heritage in the region, including Redstone and Marshall Flight Center to our south, the construction of the X-43A flight vehicle in downtown Tullahoma, and of course the world's largest aerospace ground test Complex. We even have a prime contributor to the Voyager 'Tour of Planets' teaching at UTSI. It is only fitting that we have a festival celebrating aerospace."

Volunteers are also needed and donations for supplies are welcomed. Anyone interested in helping, call 454-7627.

Details and rules for the rocket competitions will be posted at the Hands-On Science Center website www.HOSC.org and the Tennessee AIAA section website at http://info.aiaa.org/Regions/SE/Tennessee.

-AEDC-