USU students aim for space flight

One mile up and a mile back.

The short flight was a precursor of a much longer one many Utah State University mechanical and aerospace engineering students hope to be a part of someday.

The students recently sent a reusable rocket into the sky and brought it back with enough prowess that it turned some heads at NASA's University Student Launch Initiative, winning them the grand prize for the second year in a row.

The 27-member USU rocket team took home $5,000 from ATK and guaranteed invitations to a space-shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center in Florida this fall.

The competition itself is extremely demanding, said USU faculty mentor Stephen A. Whitmore. The students build a rocket with a guidance system that is as complex as that of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The rocket fires off, disappears into the sky, and 20 seconds later, as just a visible speck, it turns the corner and hits within 22 inches of the targeted one-mile altitude.

"That's like throwing a basketball from Old Main to the Spectrum and hitting nothing but net," Whitmore said.

Students sacrificed free time and worked extra hours, including over the Christmas holiday and spring break, to prepare for the competition.

"When working with people on a project that takes all your life, there is no award that could ever reflect the true depths of that effort," said Heather Williams, a USU team member.

Utah State students beat out 18 other American college and university teams in the annual competition sponsored by ATK Space Systems of Magna, including Arizona State University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Vanderbilt University.

"It was amazing to see the level of talent that participated in the competition," said Jim Halsell, ATK vice president of Space Exploration Systems and former NASA astronaut. "If these students pursue careers in engineering and science, America will have a tremendous future in space exploration as we return to the moon and journey out into the far reaches of the solar system."

This prestigious team win, Whitmore says, is due partly to last-year's "well-documented legacy for this year's team to build on."

"These wins give the USU engineering program tremendous exposure on the national stage," the former NASA employee said, adding that at the ceremony, "there wasn't a person involved who mixed up who the rocket experts in Utah are — Utah State University — and they all put that 'State' part in the name."

The team has several sponsors that support it financially and with other help, including the College of Engineering, ATK, USU's Space Dynamics Lab, Rocky Mountain Space Grant, Utah Chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronauts and students at the university.

"The team really feels that not only did we build a rocket, but we built the skills each of us will use for the rest of our lives as mechanical and aerospace engineers," said team member Nick McKee.

The launch contest challenges student teams to design, build and fly reusable rockets with scientific payloads one mile high and return them safely to Earth. NASA's competition judges then evaluate each team's rocket design, flight data and final written report about payload results and overall experience.

The University of Alabama in Huntsville placed second, and the Florida Institute of Technology was third, also winning "Rookie Team of the Year" for its first-ever rocket fielding.