Jan 27, 2009

Sonja Alexander Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1761 sonja r alexander@nasa gov

Angela Storey Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala 256-544-0034 angela d storey@nasa gov

RELEASE: 09-017

NASA CHALLENGES UNIVERSITY STUDENT LAUNCH INITIATIVE TEAMS

HUNTSVILLE, Ala -- Twenty student teams selected by NASA from colleges and universities around the country are spending the winter building sophisticated rockets they will launch high over Alabama during NASA's 2008-2009 University Student Launch Initiative in April

The annual rocketry challenge will be held April 18 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala Student teams will bring their rockets to the NASA center, where professional engineers will conduct formal design reviews of the vehicles before the students take part in a final, all-day launch

The initiative, managed by Marshall's Academic Affairs Office, is designed to inspire young people to pursue careers in fields critical to NASA's mission: science, technology, engineering and mathematics

Each student team will design, build and field-test one rocket, earning practical experience in the development and execution of a complex engineering project from design to launch They must develop a vehicle that can fly to an altitude of 1 mile and sustain an onboard science experiment that gathers measurable data

In addition to developing and testing their rockets, teams develop a project Web site and deliver preliminary and post-launch reports to their NASA counterparts for review Teams also conduct related projects for schools or youth organizations in their area, helping to spread interest in engineering and rocketry to upcoming generations of students

The Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington sponsors the University Student Launch Initiative

For complete listing of participants and more information, visit:

http://education msfc nasa gov/usli

For more information about NASA's next-generation spacecraft to send astronauts to the International Space Station, the moon and destinations beyond, visit:

http://www nasa gov/exploration

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