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National Museum USAF Rocket Team Awarded First Place in Ohio Cup

  • Published
  • By Danielle Almeter
  • National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force’s 2020-2021 rocket team was recently awarded first place in the Ohio Cup rocket competition.

The Ohio Cup, which is organized by the Wright Stuff Rocketeers, is a rocket event for teams from Ohio that compete in The American Rocketry Challenge (TARC).

“Team Titan,” was one of three teams that competed on May 1 in the Ohio Cup and finished in first place after earning a score of 25.18. (A perfect score of zero, which is rarely achieved). The parameters for the Ohio Cup are the same as TARC – reach an altitude of 800 feet and stay aloft for 40-43 seconds. Teams strive for the lowest possible score and receive one point for every foot over or under 800 feet, and four points for every 1/100 of a second over or under that time frame. In addition, the team must launch and safely recover one raw egg.

The team, which was coached by National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Educator Cindy Henry, along with volunteer assistants Ron Stauffer and Bruce Lerner, included Beavercreek High School 10th grader Harrison Jacob, who served as team captain; Centerville High School 10th grader Aditya Anand; Springboro High School 10th grader Adam Bellware; Troy High School 10th grader Olondo Dillard; Beavercreek High School 11th grader Shourjo Ganguli; and Ferguson Hall Freshman School (Beavercreek) 9th grader Noah Hall.

“Team Titan” is now awaiting word to see if they will qualify for the TARC National Finals, which occur next month.

According to Henry, it was a great honor to coach such a talented group of young men, but it was truly a team effort.

“The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is very proud of ‘Team Titan’ for their hard work in designing, building and launching a rocket that was capable of meeting all the goals of the rocketry challenge,” said Henry. “The dedication of our team, as well as all of the other TARC teams, proves that we have some very bright young people leading us into the future. We would like to thank the team coaches, as well as the team parents for their time and support of this venture.”


This is the third year Henry has coached a TARC team hosted by the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. While Henry is delighted by the team’s accomplishments this year, winning is not the most important thing to her.

“The museum’s goal is to increase students’ knowledge in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), while teaching rocketry principles and the engineering design process,” said Henry. “During these last few months, these young men came together as a group and learned how to function as a team by using critical thinking skills, various problem solving techniques, and a lot of perseverance!”

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is currently accepting applications for students entering grades 9 through 12 to apply to be a member of the museum's 2021-2022 TARC team. Additional information is available at www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Education/TARC-Rocket-Team/.

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, is the world’s largest military aviation museum. With free admission and parking, the museum features more than 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles and thousands of artifacts amid more than 19 acres of indoor exhibit space. Each year thousands of visitors from around the world come to the museum. For more information, visit www.nationalmuseum.af.mil.

 

NOTE TO PUBLIC: For more information, contact the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at (937) 255-3286.