8
THE LION'S ROAR
JUNE 2022
Did you know that launching model rockets can be more than a weekend hobby? For 8th grader Hannah Chen and her teammates, it is a sport. These students are part of The American Rocketry Challenge (TARC).
TARC celebrated their 20th Anniversary this spring and their 19th year of national finals. (The year 2020 caused a one-year pause for the competition, as it did for many other sports.) This year there were over 5,000 student participants from 41 states.
Hannah’s team, The Secret Agent Pumas, is sponsored by the First Baptist Church in Manchester, along with a second team, the Purple Dragons. Each team is comprised of up to 10 students in grades 6-12 who are willing to put in many long hours of design, analysis, construction, planning, charting, maintenance, and repair. They do this in order to meet the specifications of the annual competition, which change each year. Each team uniquely designs and builds their own rockets. Interestingly, there were several significant differences between the designs used by the Pumas and the Dragons.
When the teams finally have their designs constructed and ready for a test flight, they will carefully pack up and travel down to the Durham Fairground. Durham is the only approved location in Connecticut for launching rockets at the altitude they are hitting. A typical Saturday flight day will mean meeting at the church in Manchester by 9 AM and driving down to Durham. Often the teams do not return until well after sundown.
The mentors supporting the program are current or former Pratt & Whitney and NASA aerospace engineers. They are able to provide guidance and support – but all the work must be done by the students, including the CAD programming for printing the 3-D parts for the rockets they fly.
The requirements for this year’s competition were to design a rocket that would reach an altitude of 810 and 860 feet (separate flights) while carrying two eggs mounted sideways; it had to return to Earth undamaged within 41-45 seconds after take-off. There is also a predetermined weight limit for the rockets. With wind, temperature, and other weather variables, this challenge is more difficult than it sounds!
Scoring is similar to golf. A low score is desirable. For each foot above or below the stated goal a point is awarded, with even steeper penalties for being outside of the time range. There is an an altimeter mounted inside each rocket which tracks the altitude reached. Timing is done by National American Rocketry (NAR) judges and volunteers on the ground. Judges also validate the rocket and both eggs are still undamaged after landing. Any damage to either the rocket or the eggs results in a disqualification.
This year 724 teams competed. Both teams from the First Baptist Church of Manchester qualified to be among the 100 teams, from 27 states to move on to the Finals, outside of Washington DC this May.
Finals start early on Saturday morning, and run most of the day. There is a coin flip the night before to determine the height for the first flight. The flip determined flight 1 would be 810 feet. In order to move on to Round 2, teams must score within the top 42. Both teams moved on! The Purple Dragons had scored a 7-point flight – which had them in the top 10 early on. Hannah’s team, the Pumas, hit some altitude trouble, and scored in the top 28 for round 1. There was a lot of excitement in the air as both teams moved on to round 2, the last round.
Final scores and outcomes are determined by the sum of both flights for each team. As the last round started, the weather changed, and things become a lot more challenging! Winds picked up, it began to rain, but there were still pockets of hot air called thermals, which also effect how quickly a rocket is able to land. If a parachute gets caught in a thermal, it might hang and swirl in mid-air for what feels like an eternity. (In reality, it’s less than a minute – but often diminishes a team’s chances for a low score).
Unfortunately, a thermal caught one of our teams, causing the Dragons to drop from the top 10 down to 27th place for their final score. The Secret Agent Pumas’ second flight followed the Dragons. They attempted to launch; however, they ran into some difficulties with their engine and ignition! They had multiple start-stops. After 2 engine changes ON the launch pad, and 4 failed attempts, the rocket finally took off! Everyone cheered! It had been worth the wait. The rocket hit the desired altitude within 3 feet, and ascended within the timebox! They had received a nearly perfect score of 3 on this tumultuous flight! That was enough to booth them into 11th place nationally! Teams that fell within the top 25 also earn the opportunity to participate in a NASA high-powered rocket launch project later this fall.
It was an amazing, and blessed weekend. Both teams did a fantastic job, and ended the competition well. Careful study of next year’s competition guidelines has already begun, as each team prepares to start again… after a much-deserved break, of course!
CCS Student Feature
Hannah Chen, CCS Grade 8