Rocketry Planet

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado USA — A group of teenagers from Colorado Springs has caught the eye of scientists at NASA. Their performance at a model-rocketry competition last spring earned them the chance to compete in a design contest hosted by the space agency.

"It's NASA," says team mentor Jeff Lane. “It's leading edge stuff and of course the kids are really excited about it."

SLIDESHOW: Teen rocket scientists to perform for NASA.

Teen rocket scientists to perform for NASA

Under the parameters of the Student Launch Initiative, the group is required to design and launch a reusable, 8-foot-long model rocket one mile into the air. The team believes they can use their launch to prove that commercially produced altimeters are an inaccurate means of measuring the height of rocket launch.

They plan to prove their point by using installing digital video camera on-board and take a snapshot of the launch pad when the rocket reaches its apogee, or highest point. They will use the photo to calculate the rocket’s true launch height and compare it to the altimeter reading. They will hold a video conference with NASA engineers later this month to defend their project.

"There are actually NASA engineers doing interviews with the kids," Lane said.

The team was selected because of their performance in the Team America Rocketry Challenge, a national model rocket competition, held in Virginia last April. The group mostly middle school students finished fifth out of 700 teams, many of them made up of a high school and college students.

“They were in a position to win the whole thing and a little extra work this year and winning the whole thing this year is a high probability," Lane predicts.

The rocketry team heads to NASA’S Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama this April to demonstrate their design. During the trip, they will meet with NASA scientists and learn about the projects they are working on.

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