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When the Orion spacecraft lifted off Lauch Pad 39B to send four astronauts from Kennedy Space Center to the moon and back, the world watched.

That world included about 30 students from the Aerospace Club at �ձ�av��Ƶ, who gathered in a classroom in Crothers Engineering Hall to watch the historic 5:35 p.m. April 1 launch. This is the first time since 1972 that America has had a manned flight aimed at the moon.

Not only do the students have an interest in aerospace, some dream of a career in aerospace, and some are on student teams that have qualified for the finals of NASA competitions.

Three of the eight teams selected to compete in the finals of the Gateways to Blue Skies competition are from �ձ�av��Ƶ. In addition, for the fourth consecutive year, �ձ�av��Ƶ has a finalist in the RASC-AL (Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concept-Academic Linkage) competition, which is June 2-4 in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

That is a short distance from the Kennedy Space Center.

Todd Letcher, an associate professor of mechanical engineering who oversees �ձ�av��Ƶ’s NASA teams, told Dakota News Now, “Going to these competitions is really fun. When we go, we’re going to drive by that exact launch pad that Artemis II just took off from, and these people are going to remember that, and they’re going to remember getting to see that for the rest of their lives. They’ll be talking about this for days and weeks, probably.”