The Twentieth Annual American Rocketry Challenge, sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) in partnership with the National Association of Rocketry (NAR), has begun accepting registrations for teams of middle and high school students, fielded by schools and youth groups, for this year’s contest. TARC was created in the fall of 2002 as a one-time celebration of the Centennial of Flight, but by popular demand became an annual program.

The rules this year are slightly complex, requiring an airframe with at least two sections of two distinct diameters and each section at least 6″ long. Two raw hen’s eggs mast be carried in one of the sections, oriented on their side (which eliminates some commercially available egg capsules!), and must be returned from flight without damage. The qualification altitude target is 835 feet, and the flight duration range (liftoff to touchdown) is 41 to 44 seconds. Any deviation from those goals determines the score, so a perfect score would be zero. The total power of the rocket may not exceed 80 newton-seconds (the top of the “F” motor range). Other limits are 650 mm total length, and 650 grams total mass. Teams that make it to the finals in May will have to contend with two other sets of targets different from the qualification targets!

More information on this year’s contest can be found at the TARC website: https://rocketcontest.org .