Oregon student rocket scientists invited to NASA competition

High school students from Oregon Episcopal School put on an impressive performance at the American Rocketry Challenge, held May 19 in The Plains, Virginia. The students secured 20th place among more than 900 teams from 45 states and an invitation to submit a proposal to NASA’s Student Launch initiative.

The OES Rocketry team met year-round to prepare. To qualify for the challenge, students built and launched a 30-inch model rocket that carried one raw egg to an altitude of 820 feet, among other time and design specifications. In the weeks before the competition, the team worked on the rocket every day after school for up to six hours, 17-year-old co-lead Madoc Plowman said.

But their top 25 finish in Virginia did not come easy. While test launching their rocket the night before the final competition, the team lost their rocket in the darkness. Frantic, they rushed back to the hotel to build a new rocket, only to find their original one hours before the official launch the next day.

“That’s one of the most valuable parts of the experience, learning how to work as a team under stress,” Plowman said. “In the end, everything gets done. Everyone understands that in the chaos that happens, you learn to manage and make sure that real work comes out of it, and I think that’s one of the main lessons we’ve learned this year.”

Despite the competition’s unpredictable challenges, the team’s first launch received a competitive score. The students gathered around a computer and waited as rankings rolled in, excited to see that their final placement was higher than expected. The group left Virginia thrilled, said Plowman, who dreamed of being an astrophysicist as a kid.

“The team’s super excited right now and ready. People got back from that trip and are already trying to figure out a new rocket design for next year, even though you would expect them to be so burnt out and ready for a break. The team is more inspired than ever and motivated to keep working. It’s cool to see,” Plowman said.

The Oregon Episcopal School has a history of strong performance at the American Rocketry Challenge, with a first-place finish in 2021.

The students are already thinking about the next competition season, with plans to work over the summer. While NASA has yet to release details about their 2025 program, 21 teams were selected to participate in last year’s Student Launch challenge. To qualify, the OES Rocketry Team must submit a comprehensive design proposal for a rocket about five times bigger than those they have built to date, Plowman said. Selected teams will participate in the final competition in Huntsville, Alabama, minutes from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

Jack Reynolds and Layne Bradshaw are co-advisers for the OES Rocketry Team, but they said they do not teach any rocketry.

“Those kids drive the entire project. They know far more about what they’re doing than we do,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds, who has taught physics for 30 years, called the students’ success and self-motivation extraordinary.

“There’s all this talk in education about extrinsic versus intrinsic motivation. What makes learning stick — the stickiness of knowledge acquisition — is this intrinsic side of learning. And that’s exactly what this is,” Reynolds said.

— Riya Sharma covers Here is Oregon feature stories. Reach her at rsharma@oregonian.com or 503-294-5996.