THE PLAINS, VA (352today.com) – A group of students are still flying high from their placement in a national rocketry competition.

A team from the Cornerstone School, a private school in Ocala, placed in the top 20 at the American Rocketry Challenge.

The world’s largest student rocketry competition was held in The Plains, Virginia, on Sunday, May 19.

Two Cornerstone teams competed in the National Finals. Team 1 placed 17th and team 2 finished 83rd out of 100 teams competing.

The Cornerstone School fielded two teams in the competition. They’re seen here with chaperones, Martin Goodwin (left) and Peter Zaloom (right). They’re grandparents of students and volunteer their time and talent for the students and school. Courtesy: Peter Zaloom

As a top 25 finisher, Cornerstone Team 1 has earned an invitation to participate in NASA’s Student Launch initiative.

The team which is comprised of all 8th graders spent months designing, building, and testing a rocket capable of meeting the mission parameters. To qualify for the finals, the model rockets had to safely carry a payload of one raw egg with a target flight duration of 43-46 seconds and an altitude of 820 feet.

The American Rocketry Challenge finals were held in The Plains, Virginia, on Sunday, May 19, 2024. Courtesy: Peter Zaloom
To qualify for the National Finals, participating teams designed, built, and launched model rockets that could safely carry a payload of one raw egg with a target flight duration of 43-46 seconds and an altitude of 820 feet. Courtesy: Peter Zaloom

“The dedication and skills they have demonstrated are the foundation for future success in engineering solutions for complex problems,” Pam Erickson, senior vice president & chief communications officer for RTX, an aerospace and defense company.

“It’s clear we are witnessing the ascent of the next generation of aerospace innovators,” said Aerospace Industries Association President and CEO Eric Fanning.

Peter Zaloom is a grandparent of one of the students. He helped chaperone the trip. He says he volunteers his time and expertise for the benefit of the school and its students and adds that rockets are cool and fun!

https://youtu.be/NXNKZirkdGo 

NASA astronaut Warren “Woody” Hoburg, who competed in the National Finals of the inaugural American Rocketry Challenge in 2003, visited with the students at the competition. Twenty years after he was a participant in the contest, Hoburg blasted off to space as the pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station.

Teams at the finals represented 28 states and competed for a total of $100,000 in prize money and scholarships. You can view the full results here.