Elizabeth de la Cruz
NASA has declared the winners of the Student Launch challenge that had nearly 50 teams of middle, high school and college and university students from 22 states display aerospace and engineering skills to meet mission objectives.
Vanderbilt University nabbed the top spot in the competition and received a $5,000 prize from corporate sponsor Orbital ATK, followed by the University of Louisville and Cornell University that landed the second and third spots respectively, NASA said Friday.
The goal of the participants was to develop and test a rocket that will fly an altitude of one mile, deploy an automated parachute system and land safely for reuse as part of the space agency’s goal to encourage students in pursuing careers in the STEM fields.
NASA hosted the event in April 2016 alongside the Mars Ascent Vehicle challenge at the space agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center where students exhibited their developed rocket launch technology and robotic ground support systems.
