Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, is encouraging aspiring astronauts and rocket scientists, aged 11-18 to compete in the UK’s largest youth rocket competition, the UK Youth Rocketry Challenge.
Last year team UK went on to beat the USA, France and Japan at the international final in Paris. The UK now looks to the next national champion to retain this international title on home turf at Farnborough International Airshow in July 2020. We are now on the lookout for our next champion which could be from Denton and Reddish.
UKRoC involves the design, build and launch of a model rocket with the aim of ensuring the ‘passenger’ – one raw egg – remains intact throughout the launch and landing. Weighing a maximum of 650 grams, the rocket must reach 800 feet with a specific target flight duration of 40-43 seconds. Rules governing the competition are altered every year to ensure old designs can’t be repeated.
Teams across the UK compete regionally to qualify for the national finals with the winners representing the UK in a fly-off against teams from the USA, Japan and France at the 2020 Farnborough International Airshow
UKRoC enables young people to gain practical insight into how science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects are used by the aerospace and space sectors which employ more than 160,000 people across the UK.
Andrew Gwynne said:
“The UK Youth Rocketry Challenge is a unique opportunity for young people to learn the key engineering and physics skills that could see them become the engineers and scientists of tomorrow.
“It’s a really fun learning exercise and I’d definitely encourage anyone who is interested in a career in engineering or physics to take part.
“I hope schools in Denton and Reddish take part – I’ll definitely be supporting them all the way!”
The deadline to register a team is 28 February 2020. Find out more: https://www.ukroc.com/