Jan. 27, 2009

Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1761
sonja.r.alexander{at}nasa.gov

Angela Storey
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
angela.d.storey{at}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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