Rocketry Association Gathering Set For Cocoa Beach
By Space Coast Daily // February 23, 2014
International Palms TO HOST EVENT FEB. 28
ABOVE VIDEO: Aero-TV, John Langford – The National Association of Rocketry at TARC – The Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) is an aerospace design and engineering event for teams of U.S. secondary school students (7th through 12th grades) run by the NAR and the Aerospace Industries Association.
BREVARD COUNTY • COCOA BEACH, FLORIDA – More than 150 model rocket hobbyists, vendors and others will assemble this week on Florida’s Space Coast to hear from experts in the field, local space legends and veteran astronauts during the National Association of Rocketry’s annual national technical conference, known as NARCON.
NARCON 2014 will be held Feb. 28 to March 2 at the International Palms Resort & Conference Center in Cocoa Beach, with attendees from 25 states and two Canadian provinces are registered.
The National Association of Rocketry is a scientific organization dedicated to consumer safety, youth education, and the advancement of technology in the hobby of spacemodeling (sport rocketry) in the United States.
“Our focus will be on the past, present and future of rocketry at all levels – from the beginning model rocketeer to the professionals flying the real deal all the way to Earth orbit and beyond,” said Patrick McCarthy, chairman of the NARCON 2014 organizing host committee and director of spaceport operations for Space Florida, the state’s space agency.
SPACE LEGENDS WILL BE FEATURED
Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana and fellow astronauts Sam Durrance and Winston Scott will headline the annual NARCON banquet to be held Saturday night, March 1, in Cocoa Beach.
Earlier in the day, local space legends Lee Solid, Roy Tharpe and John Tribe will be featured during a luncheon panel where they will share tales from heydays of the space program.
Throughout the day on Saturday a series of 24 technical sessions will discuss rocketry at every scale – from small model rockets to full-size space launch vehicles.
Also attending the conference will be Vern Estes – founder of world-famous Estes model rockets – and his wife, Gleda.
Vendors representing the nation’s most popular sources of model rocketry supplies and equipment will display their wares in a vendor/exhibit hall that will be open to the public at no charge on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Sunday from 8:30 to 11 a.m.
Anyone with an interest in model rocketry or the space program is welcome to attend the Saturday technical sessions by registering at the conference desk on the second floor of the hotel lobby. The cost is $80.
NARCON 2014 is made possible with the financial support of major sponsors Space Florida, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and the Missile, Space & Range Pioneers organization. Also, high school students from the Da Vinci Academy of Aerospace Technology at Merritt Island High School are serving as conference volunteers.
The NARCON 2014 Organizing Host Committee includes McCarthy, Jim Banke, Bob Koenn, Marc “Moose” Lavigne, Mike Myrick, and Dave Sollberger – all veteran aerospace professionals and model rocket enthusiasts.
OLDEST AND LARGEST SPACEMODELING ORGANIZATION IN THE WORLD
Founded in 1957, the NAR is the oldest and largest spacemodeling organization in the world with more than 5,500 members and 125 affiliated clubs across the U.S.
Each year the NAR conducts two other major events in addition to NARCON: a National Sport Launch, in which scores of model rocketeers gather to launch for fun; and NARAM, which is a model rocket flying competition that draws participants from across the globe.
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