Engineering students from Schoolcraft College squared off against some of the brightest minds in the country on Thursday in the Bayer 2019 Alka-Rocket Challenge held at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The competition included teams from Schoolcraft, Cal Poly, Brigham Young, the University of Georgia and the University of Minnesota. They used their skills in chemistry, physics and engineering to design and launch an Alka-Rocket fueled by Alka-Seltzer tablets and water.

Unfortunately, Schoolcraft’s team of Kevin Bak, Mustapha Baltaji, Joseph Choma and Jayson Fitzpatrick was unable submit their data because their rocket flew so high in a strong wind that it landed in an inaccessible area. Schoolcraft students Iris Do and Jacob Delis, who have been active in the effort as well, were also at the competition.

Despite the tough ending, the team members believe that if they recovered their rocket, they had a real shot at winning because they had their best-ever launch pressure of almost 350 psi (the greater the pressure, the higher the rocket).

Three other teams were unable to submit their data because their rocket was either damaged or lost.  Minnesota won with an altitude of 535 feet, which was well off the record of 883 feet set by BYU last year.