Rocketry Planet

Winning a national rocketry competition was just a matter of rocket science for four Madison West High School students.

The model rocket by juniors Jacqui German, John Schoech, Tenzin Sonam and Ben Winokur took first place out of 100 teams in the Team America Rocketry Challenge on May 16 in The Plains, Va.

The model rocket by juniors (from left) Jacqui German, Tenzin Sonam, John Schoech and Ben Winokur took first place out of 100 teams in the Team America Rocketry Challenge on May 16 in The Plains, Va. Photo: Craig Schreiner.

The team's rocket reached 749 feet in 41 seconds and 740 feet in 44 seconds in two launches for the victory.

"We didn't think we would win considering there were 100 teams," Sonam said. "After they came out with the scores and we found out we won, it was thrilling and amazing."

Their team was one of three from the Madison West Rocket Club to qualify for the national competition.

Club members typically spend 10 to 20 hours per week outside of class time designing, building, test-launching and modifying their rockets from August to June each year.

The team members will attend a reception in June at the International Paris Air Show. They can't bring their rocket to launch because of airline restrictions, adviser Chris Hager said.

The winning rocket is about four feet long and is equipped with a 6-inch motor, a parachute in the nose cone (the rocket's tip), and a raw egg.

The egg, inside the rocket, represented an astronaut and had to reach ground uncracked. German, Schoech and Winokur are considering careers in engineering, while Sonam hopes to enter the medical field.

The 35-member club is mentored by Pavel Pinkas, a senior programmer at a bioinformatics company in Madison.

Pinkas' son, Tom Hanzlik, a 2007 West High School graduate, helped found the rocket club six years ago.

Copyright © 2009, Wisconsin State Journal.