Longstone Special School wins UKAYRoC Northern Ireland final
They were awarded a special Trophy produced for the finals by Thales Belfast. The NI champions now move on to UK national finals for a place in July’s global final in Farnborough.
UKAYRoC teams have to design, construct and successfully launch a rocket, carrying two raw medium size hen's eggs to an altitude of 800ft in a rocket weighing no more than 650 grams, and return the eggs safely to ground within 43-47 seconds using a single 15 inch parachute only.
The challenge provides secondary school student teams (three to five members), aged between 11 and 18 with a realistic experience in designing a flying aerospace vehicle that meets a specified set of mission and performance requirements. Students have to work together in teams, just as aerospace engineers do. The challenge is not intended to be easy, but it is well within the capabilities of secondary school students with a good background in science and maths, and some craftsmanship skills.
Longstone Special School Team 2 has secured a place at the National Finals of the UK Rocketry Challenge at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, Lutterworth, Leicestershire on the 16 May. The winner of the National Finals wins an all-expenses paid trip to NASA in the USA and will represent the UK at the International Rocketry Challenge against the US and French winning teams on the 13 July at the Farnborough International Airshow.
The finalist schools were:
- Longstone Special School Team 1 from Dundonald sponsored by Denroy Plastics in Bangor
- Longstone Special School Team 2 from Dundonald sponsored by Denroy Plastics in Bangor
- Our Lady’s Grammar School from Newry sponsored by Armagh Planetarium
- Victoria College Belfast sponsored by New Breed Logistics in Belfast
- St Dominic’s Grammar School Belfast Queens University
- Lisneal CollegeTeam 1 Londonderry sponsored by Maydown Precision Engineering
- LisnealCollegeTeam 2 Londonderry sponsored by Maydown Precision Engineering
Mark Brockbank, a teacher from Longstone Special School said: “We are delighted to win the NI Rocket Challenge today - the students are buzzing with joy. It has been real engineering challenge and a lot of fun at the same time, and would not have been possible without the support we had from our sponsors Denroy Plastics. We are now seriously focused on winning the national final and the prize of an all-expenses paid trip to NASA in the USA.”
Dr Leslie Orr, ADS Northern Ireland Manager, said: “Our warm congratulations go out to Longstone Special School for their well-deserved win today. The rocketry challenge is designed to spark an interest in science, technology, engineering and maths in schools it was obvious from the enthusiasm on show today from all the finalists that our aim was met. I will be cheering on our Northern Ireland rocketry champions at the national finals in Leicestershire.”
