Apple Valley High Rocket Team Will Jet to D.C. for National Competition

Apple Valley High School's rocket team will be headed to Washington, D.C., on May 11 to compete in the Team America Rocketry Challenge for a chance to win a free trip to the Paris Air Show or a share of $60,000 in scholarship money.

In building a rocket capable of flying 750 feet in the air and descending softly without breaking the raw egg passenger "eggstronaut," the four students on the team learned about rocket aerodynamics, took careful altimeter measurements and kept log data for all practice flights.

The Apple Valley team is one of two in the state and 100 in the country to qualify for the national tournament.

“The biggest hurdle is that every detail matters,” the team's coach Neil Michels, an Apple Valley physics teacher, told the Star Tribune. “Most importantly, they learn that hard work can pay off — and it can be fun,” he said.

When the aptly named Eduardo Boeing, an exchange student from Brazil, joined the team, he already had an interest in rockets and engineering. But he had more to learn by tinkering with the rocket to make it more aerodynamic and to balance its weight.

“You have to be as precise as possible,” he told the Star Tribune.

Ted Cochran, a Honeywell employee who helps Michels coach the team, told the paper that about 80 percent of participants end up pursuing science, technology, engineering and math careers.

“This is all a secret plot to get kids interested in science and technology,” he said. “Most of the workforce in the aviation community is aging out … so a new wave has got to come in.”