NASA’s 2024 Student Launch challenge taking place

TONEY, Alab. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Several student-made rockets were sent into the sky in Alabama on Saturday for NASA's Annual Student Launch Challenge.

The event brings together teams middle, high school and college students from across the nation to launch amateur rockets and payloads at Bragg Farms in Toney near NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

This year's payload challenge is inspired by the Artemis missions, and required students to design a stemnaut atmosphere independent lander (SAIL) payload that deploys mid-air and returns to the ground without a parachute.

The payload must contain a crew of stemnauts, four non-living objects representing astronauts, and will be scored in nearly a dozen categories including safety, vehicle design and social media presence.

The winners will be announced on Friday, June 7 during a virtual awards ceremony once all teams' flight data has been verified.