Displaying items by tag: The Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters

HUNTSVILLE, AL (January 27, 2009) -- Twenty student teams selected by NASA from colleges and universities around the country are spending the winter building sophisticated rockets they will launch high over Alabama during NASA's 2008-2009 University Student Launch Initiative in April.

The annual rocketry challenge will be held April 18 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. Student teams will bring their rockets to the NASA center, where professional engineers will conduct formal design reviews of the vehicles before the students take part in a final, all-day launch.

The initiative, managed by Marshall's Academic Affairs Office, is designed to inspire young people to pursue careers in fields critical to NASA's mission: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.