2009 Student Launch Initiative Invite and Rockets for Schools

Briefs: Student launch initiative; Soyuz contract; Humans in first place - RLV News - Here's the part that fits in the theme of this blog:

NASA's Student Launch Initiative helps train American space transport pioneers of tomorrow : NASA Invites Young Engineers To Alabama Student Launch Initiative - NASA - Dec.2.08

From the NASA Student Launch Initiative site:

Teams can qualify to participate in the Student Launch Initiative by placing in the top level two teams at the Rockets for Schools competition held in Wisconsin or by placing in the top at the Team America Rocketry Challenge, or TARC held in Virginia.

I've covered TARC many times (and it's linked on the right); here's a link to Rockets for Schools at Spaceport Sheboygan (and here's the 2009 contest). From the poster:

Join us for a hands-on / minds-on aerospace adventure at Spaceport Sheboygan. Our Rockets for Schools competition is a unique program for you to learn about today's space technology and explore exciting opportunities in tomorrow's aerospace industries.

As a member of a Rockets for Schools launch team you will:

• Learn basic rocketry principles of propulsion, stability and recovery
• Build a 6 foot high powered rocket
• Design, build and launch a payload to an altitude of 2,000 feet.
• Help coordinate launch day activities as part of Mission Control, Tracking or Recovery Teams
• Meet a NASA Astronaut
• View NASA aerospace exhibits
• Interact with aerospace professionals

Rockets for Schools is open to all 6 - 12 graders from Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota.