EVERETT, Wash — These Washington State University students are taking one giant leap with a rocket they built themselves.
"Ammonium nitrate solid-fuel booster," explained rocket team leader Brendon Rosenkranz.
Rosenkranz and his fellow engineers here at the Everett campus regularly fly their creations over the clear skies of eastern Washington.
"You need high-power certification to be able to purchase them and launch them," he said.
Now they've qualified for a NASA-sponsored competition in Huntsville, Alabama.
"It's time to see if this thing's gonna work."
It's kind of a big deal. Even the school chancellor, Dr. Paul Pitre, has stopped by to wish them luck.
"They've just put a ton of work and effort into this," Pitre said. "That's what's gonna help them to be those game-changing engineers once they get out into the workforce."
Their specially built rocket stands nearly ten feet tall and weighs 40 pounds. They're required to fly it higher than 4,000 feet, carrying a fully rotating camera.
"And then transmitting back status update signals to our ground station," Rosenkranz added.
But this team has another trick up its sleeve.
"We are the only rocket in the competition that is attempting an actual vertical landing using a landing leg system," Rosenkranz said.
Things don't always go as planned, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"You learn a lot more from the failures than when things go well," he said.
But whether they cruise or crash, these students say the sky's the limit.
"We're gonna make it happen and we are really excited to go," Rosenkranz said.
The launch competition begins at 7 a.m. PT Saturday, April 15. You can watch the NASA livestream of the event at this link.
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