NASA Challenge: Springs student from The Vanguard School joins winning teams from around the country

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Students from around the country competed in the NASA TechRise Student Challenge, building experiments that will autonomously operate and collect data from the edge of space aboard a suborbital rocket or a high-altitude balloon test flight.

Five thousand students from sixth through 12th grade representing 600 teams from across the country applied to the most recent challenge. One student from The Vanguard School in Colorado Springs joins the 57 winning teams from across the country.

Each winning team will receive $1,500 to build and assemble their experiment with an assigned spot to test them on NASA-sponsored suborbital rocket flights operated by Blue Origin, UP Aerospace or a high-altitude balloon flight from Raven Aerostar.

“At NASA, we educate and inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. “The TechRise Student Challenge is an excellent way for students to get hands-on experience designing, building, and launching experiments on suborbital vehicles. I’m so impressed we received hundreds of entries from across the country, and I want to congratulate the winning teams. I can’t wait to see these incredible experiments come to life!”

Nearly 500 volunteer judges -- including NASA personnel, teachers, and technology subject matter experts -- offered their time, passion and expertise to review entries and select winners from around the country. Entry experiments are evaluated on criteria including the originality of their flight experiment idea, its impact on education and/or society, and the quality of the build plan.

For the latest NASA TechRise Student Challenge news and to follow the student teams’ progress, click here.

TechRise is one of many NASA prizes and challenges that offer opportunities to participate in America’s space program.

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