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Health & Fitness

Northwest Yeshiva High School Physics Rocket Team Places 30th in National Competition

Northwest Yeshiva High School Physics students Itai Amon, Joel Jacobs and Jessica Schwartz placed 30th out of 100 teams participating at the Team America Rocket Contest in Virginia this past weekend.

NYHS seniors, Jessica Schwartz, Itai Amon, Joel Jacobs,along with their Physics instructor Mr. Peter Brodkin and Dean of Judaic Studies Rabbi Benjy Owen, flew to Washington DC this past weekend to participate in the Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) that took place in Virginia and was sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association.

To qualify for the competition, the team placed in the top 100 out of 725 teams in designing a rocket that would hit an altitude of 750 feet, have a total flight time of 48 to 50 seconds and recover a raw egg safely with a 15-inch parachute.

NYHS’s qualifying rocket soared 752 feet and descended in 46 seconds, close enough to target to make the top 100.

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At the TARC competition, NYHS came in 30th out of 100 with their rocket soaring 751 feet and descending in 40 seconds!

Northwest Yeshiva High School (NYHS) is just one of two teams that qualified from Washington State!   Skyline, the other Washington State team, came in 70th.

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The day before the launch, all the team members from the 100 competing schools gathered on Capitol Hill for breakfast with lawmakers and leaders in the aerospace industry.

NYHS's team returned late Sunday night and was honored at an assembly Monday morning at school. 

About the Team America Rocketry Challenge
Team America Rocketry Challenge 2013 is sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry, with co-sponsorship by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Defense Department, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and 34 AIA member companies. The event was originally created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of flight, but AIA decided to hold it again after receiving hundreds of requests from students, teachers and parents. 2013 marks the eleventh year of the Team America Rocketry Challenge. A pool of over $60,000 in scholarships and prizes is shared by the top 10 placing teams. Two AIA companies provide additional prize premiums. Lockheed Martin gives $5,000 in scholarship funds to each of the top three teams, and Raytheon pays for the winning team to attend the International Paris Air Show in June. 


TARC is about inspiring the next generation of young people to choose a career in aerospace. The generation that won the Space Race is retiring from America's aerospace industry, creating lots of great jobs on exciting programs. TARC is a steppingstone to the stars.

 

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