ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – A group of Rio Rancho and Albuquerque middle schoolers have landed a place in a national rocket competition.
The group, known as Team Sigma, is vying for a national championship title at the Team America Rocketry Challenge in May.
“I found rocketry would just be a fun thing to do,” said 13-year-old Jeremy Long.
“If you win it makes you feel pretty good,” said 13-year-old Peter Bock.
The competition challenges students from around the country to build and fly a rocket. That rocket must carry a raw egg at least 800 feet into the air and it must land 46 to 46 seconds later, with the egg unbroken. Every foot of fraction of a second off the goal means a worse score.
So how does the team keep the egg from braking?
“Usually put in a protective foam and surround it by soft things,” said Long.
Soft things like bubble wrap, a lot of bubble wrap, the kids said.
The group said protecting the egg isn’t the hardest part; it’s making sure the launch goes off smooth.
“Adjusting the height and everything of the rocket because it’s pretty much guessing until we finally figured out,” said 14-year-old Dominique Jordan.
Each team member has a specific role. Jordan is in charge of building the motor. Long works on the rocket itself and Bock focuses on the launch pad.
“I basically hook up the motor to the wires and the launch box so that everything will work,” said Bock.
The national competition begins May 8 in Washington D.C.
More than $60,000 in prizes and scholarships and an opportunity to represent the U.S. at the International Rocketry Challenge in Paris are at stake.
