MANCHESTER – The pad is hot, it’s going to be that way for a while if the Purple Pumas have something to say about it.
The Purple Pumas are a Manchester-based rocketry team sponsored by the First Baptist Church of Manchester. The Pumas include nine team members from area schools, this year ranging from grade 6 to grade 10. The Pumas were recently invited to fire things up on a national stage – at the Team America Rocketry Challenge, which will be held this weekend outside Washington in Manassas, Virginia. The Competition this year is honoring the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
The top 101 American teams get invited to the national competition, the winner is invited to the world competition which is held in June at the during the Paris Air show. This is the 17th year of the Team America Rocketry Challenge which was created, in part, to encourage young students to enter STEM fields.