Are you interested in rocketry and/or setting a world record and winning $30,000? Then the Alka-Rocket Challenge may be for you.
Bayer has launched its second Alka-Rocket Challenge, in which students compete to design and launch an effervescent tablet-powered rocket for a chance to be the new world record holder for the highest.
An Alka-Rocket is a model rocket often built using a 35mm film canister and propelled by the chemical reaction that occurs when effervescent tablets are mixed with water.
The challenge this year will be open to teams of students – all attending a four-year accredited US university – to attempt to set a new world record and compete for the $30,000 prize. Last year's inaugural Alka-Rocket Challenge was won by the University of Minnesota team, which won $25,000 after its rocket launched 430 feet into the air.
Teams have until Oct. 18 to submit their proposal by visiting AlkaRocketChallenge.com (link below). Competition guidelines/rules and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are also available on the website.
An internationally recognized panel of judges will review the submissions and choose four finalists based on the design, execution and creativity of each rocket. The fifth finalist team will be selected through the public casting their vote from Oct. 22 to Nov. 2 to pick their fan favorite.
The five finalist teams will be announced on Nov. 5.
On Dec. 12, the finalists will compete at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Brevard County, Florida.
The judges include: Mae Jemison, NASA astronaut and principal of 100 Year Starship; John Hochheimer, president of the National Association of Rocketry; and Cliff Ransom, executive editor of Scientific American Custom Media. Also, there will be an official adjudicator from Guinness World Records to validate the heights of each competing rocket on-site at the final competition.
More details at: https://go.unl.edu/ozbr