MANHATTAN, Kansas USA — Sally Ride was the first American woman to go to in outer space. In Manhattan, a K-State student is also breaking ground in the rocketry field.

Amy Howell has been into rocketry since she was in fifth grade. But when Howell's eyes light up when she gets going about the hobby, she's not talking about one- or two-foot models, she's talking about 10-foot behemoths that top out at several miles, and she's a ground-breaker in the hobby.

Amy Howell stands next to the rocket she launched. Photo by Rod Mikinski.

Howell, 20, a mechanical engineering student at Kansas State University from the small community of Linn, is like many her age; she likes sports, hanging out with friends and studying. She's also the youngest female member of the Tripoli Rocketry Association, a national rocketry club, to certify at Level 3 — a level that allows members to fire rockets that break the sound barrier (Mach 1), and can climb as high as 50,000 feet.

"We have to wait for a waiver from the FAA for six to 12 months in advance before we can launch," Howell said.

The launch site is about 40 square acres, but the FAA requires a buffer zone of several miles around the site, and members aren't allowed to fire the rockets if any airplanes are visible.

Howell is not the first woman to attain level 3 certification; in fact, 1,000 fliers have reached that level in the last 40 years. But she reached that level at a speed that surprised virtually everyone within the organization.

"Not only did Amy achieve this, but she ... completed the whole process in one weekend," said Darren Wright of the TRA board of directors, adding that members often require decades to reach level 3 certification. "She became a phenom of LDRS."

Howell said the decision was a spontaneous one. She was at the national Large and Dangerous Rocket Ship launch meet over Labor Day weekend was disappointed that she had not been able to finish building her rocket over the summer. But a range safety officer offered to donate the cost of the rocket motor (about $275). So Howell took the top half of her level 2 rocket — about six feet long — and the avionics within it (altimeter used to deploy the parachute and GPS to locate the rocket) and bought the material to build the thicker lower half, or booster section.

"I'm a pretty fast rocket builder," Howell said.

Rocket parts aren't cheap — a large body can cost from $150 to $400, plus the cost of the motor — so Howell had to make sure everything was functioning properly and that all of the parts were in place.

"I've seen a lot of rockets fail," she said. "When you launch you have to be confident (you've done everything correctly). You just have to know."

After affixing the stabilizing fins, there wasn't much flight time left, so Howell decided to "fly naked," or launch her rocket without a paint job. After delaying the launch for a day for some last-minute modifications, Howell pressed the launch button and her rocket took off, reaching 9,144 feet.

Howell said she spends about two months out of each year working on her rockets back home at her father's workshop. She said she hopes eventually to work for NASA or some other aeronautics firm.

And she's fairly confident she can attain her goal.

"I know a lot of people (with NASA)," Howell said. "It's a pretty natural progression."

Copyright © 2008, Manhattan Mercury.