High school students tackle "eggs in a rocket" challenge
By John M. McGuire St. Louis Post Dispatch
03/30/2003

St. Louis Rocketry Association member John Buckley is a supervisor for small groups of high school students hoping that their little two-stage rockets, which can weigh no more than 3.3 pounds, may whoosch as far as the national championship finals in May.

Three high school teams showed up at the Elsberry cornfield on a recent Saturday, all participants in the Team America Rocketry Challenge program. It's a national organization that has attracted 873 teams and more than 9,000 students from high schools in all 50 states.

The first national championship final event will take place May 10, in Plains, Va. Nearly $60,000 in awards is at stake.

Eggs are a curious part of the Team America competition, sometimes known as "eggs in a rocket." Two eggs riding in the nose cones of these rockets must remain unbroken.

Last fall, Buckley, a Pharmacia chemist from O'Fallon, Mo., began supervising these high school rocketeers. On this Saturday, students from Hazelwood West, Althoff Catholic High in Belleville and Clayton High participated in the Elsberry launching, a day made difficult by increasing wind, misfires and crashes.

The following Saturday, at Buder Park, both the Althoff and Clayton High teams tried again to qualify for the national competition.

"Clayton's flight was the best one of the day, with an altitude of around 1,300-feet," Buckley said. "Althoff had a problem with its flight going over the woods and coming in kind of fast when their parachute shredded. Both teams eggs survived and are qualified.

"Both will let me know if they make it into the finals. I think Clayton has a shot at making the finals. Althoff only made it to 300 feet, so its chances are not as good."

He was right - Clayton made the finals.

- John M. McGuire