MHS students earn berth in 2017 NASA student launch

Five MHS engineering students took shot at 2016 Rocketry Challenge National Finals. They also earned berth at 2017 NASA student launch.

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The Flying Lions from McKinney High School sat in second place going into the final round of the Team America Rocketry Challenge national competition on May 14.

They bested some 700 other teams from across the country to get here.

Due to involvement in other competitions, the team was late getting into the game. Where many TARC teams spend a year building and testing their rockets, the Flying Lions from McKinney High School, had only about 5 months to prepare. They overcame the resulting supply problem.

The Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) is the world’s largest rocket contest. Proudly run by the AIA and the NAR.

NASA Student Launch

Only a very small handful get invited. The students will basically receive a contract to build a high powered rocket for NASA, and they will have to perform every task from engineering, safety, budgeting and scheduling exactly like real engineers. That is an opportunity earned by this team through their hard work on the TARC project. When our students go to college and then look for their first engineering positions, they are going to be so far ahead of their peers because of this experience.