LITTLETON, Colorado USA — Foothills Cadet Squadron cadets are building again. It is time once again for the annual Team America Rocketry Challenge and Foothills is in full scale production. From October - January, the cadets (7 th-12 th grade) designed the rocket they are now building for this awesome challenge.

Last year's team in Virginia with their rocket. L-R: Cadets Alex Guyton, Preston Nicholl, Reid Doyle, Patrick Kohlman and Shane Marquardt with Dr. Buzz Aldrin and Capt. Michael Lawson, CAP. Photo: M. Lawson .

The cadets meet on the weekends at Hobby Town USA in Littleton and put about 9 hours a weekend into the rockets they are now building. This is their second year in the challenge and are hoping to return again to the National Rocket shoot in Virginia this May as they did in 2006.

From among the 750 teams nation wide only 100 will go to Virginia when they obtain the goal of the challenge: Design, build and test a rocket that will bring a raw chicken egg to 850 feet and return it to the ground unbroken with a flight duration of 45 seconds. There are no second chances. The work they are doing today is for a "one shot" chance at over $60,000.00 in available prize money in May.

If you are interested in helping these cadets make it to Virginia, you can come to Hobby Town USA in Littleton and see what we are doing and make a tax deductible donation to Foothills Cadet Squadron, Civil Air Patrol or look us up online at http://www.cap.gov/ then click on "join," "Find unit," and enter "Lakewood."

To find out more about Team America Rocketry Challenge you can go to http://www.nar.org/ and click on "Team America".