HSB Rocketry was created in 2006 as a group of 8th graders from Cain Middle School. Every year from 2006 through 2011 the team participated in the Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC), which is a contest where middle schoolers and high schoolers design, build, and fly a rocket to reach specific parameters. Every year the rockets are required to carry at least one raw egg payload and must land th
e rocket without fracturing or breaking the egg. Every year the launch parameters change in some form or fashion so that teams must redesign their rockets for the year, but each year the rockets are required to reach altitudes between 750 and 850 feet. Hundreds of teams from across the nation compete to be placed in the top 100 in the nation where the teams then travel to the TARC finals outside of Washington DC. At this competition there are over $60,000 in prizes awarded to the top finishing teams, with the first place team receiving the biggest portion of the prize. The contest is sponsored by dozens of aerospace companies such as Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, and the purpose of the competition is to get the American youth engaged in math, science, engineering, and specifically aerospace. The Team America Rocketry Challenge is the Aerospace Industry’s way to create a bright and enthusiastic future workforce. HSB Rocketry stats at TARC:
2007: Did not qualify
2008: Did not qualify
2009: Placed 12th in the nation
2010: Placed 12th in the nation
2011: Placed 1st in the nation, Placed 1st for best presentation, Awarded best overall design, AND placed 1st against the winning teams from the UK and France in an international fly-off at the 2011 Paris Airshow
In addition to TARC, HSB Rocketry competed in NASA’s 2010-2011 Student Launch Initiative, where high school and college teams design, build, and fly a rocket to reach 1 mile in altitude while carrying a scientific payload. Throughout the year students must participate in rigorous design reviews, must submit numerous reports on their project, and must give several presentations to scientists and engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. HSB Rocketry submitted over 225 pages of reports to NASA, in addition to building a 10 ft tall rocket that reached speeds of over 450 mph in just 2.1 seconds from liftoff. At the main launch in Huntsville, AL the team set an all time record for being closest to the 1 mile altitude requirement (just 16 feet below target), beating out all high schools and colleges since the program was created in 2006. Several notable colleges that competed were MIT, Vanderbilt, Purdue, and Embry-Riddle.
