Reno Air Races Youth In Space Educational Program With Grand Prize An All-Expense Paid Trip To Space Camp In Kansas

The essay question will be "unveiled" on the RARA web site and in the Reno Gazette-Journal on July 20, the 30th anniversary of the first moon landing. Any student can participate. Essays must be 100-words for elementary students and 200-words for middle/high school students.

An 8 1/2 x 11 original illustration by the student that supports the essay response is required as well as a cover page with the student's name, phone number, address, grade level, school, birthday and parent consent form for the essay to be printed in the Reno Gazette-Journal. All material must be postmarked by Aug. 6 and mailed to Ellen at the RARA office at P.O. Box 1429, Reno, NV, 89505.

This year's Reno Air Races is like no other. To recognize the 30th Anniversary of man's first steps on the moon, the 1999 National Championship Air Races (NCAR), Sept. 13-19, is a reunion of NASA astronauts representing the history of America's space program - Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle. These astronauts will serve as grand marshals and one of the astronauts, Jm Lovell, was portrayed by Tom Hanks in the film Apollo 13. The essay question will focus on the 1999 NCAR theme, "Heroes of Flight".

If a winner is entering the 7th, 8th, 9th or 10th grades, they will receive an all-expense paid trip to space camp at the Cosmosphere & Space Center in Hutchinson, KS for next summer. If a winner is too young to qualify for camp, they will be given a scholarship to attend space camp at a later date. If a winner is too old to qualify for camp, the value will be given as a scholarship through Wells Fargo. The winning essays will be prominently displayed on the RARA web site and printed in the Reno Gazette-Journal.

On Friday, Sept. 17, all essay contest finalists, their teachers and parents are invited free-of-charge on a bus tour that starts at the Reno Hilton where they will meet the U.S. Air Force Thunderbird pilots, travel to the special space museum in downtown Reno and finally go to the Reno Air Races to meet MASA astronauts, view the races and attend a brief awards ceremony where three winners will be announced.