HHS Space Force JROTC Team to Advance to Nationals

The Huntsville High School Space Force JROTC team, the Space Panthers, are advancing to national finals this week after qualifying with the highest score in the country at the StellarXplorers Space Competition Semifinals.  The team, which consists of DJ Fisher, Shepherd Howley, Ayden Taylor, Wesley Headrick, and Joseph McCallion, qualified for the national finals along with 10 other teams from across the country.

“It’s amazing to get to this position,” said Huntsville High Junior Dominic Fisher, “the pride I get out of being the commander is not just a pride for me, it’s a pride for all four of my other teammates.”

Throughout the competition, 255 nationwide teams participated in three challenging rounds during the semifinals which involved solving real world problems for satellite mission orbit planning, satellite design, and a satellite launch scenario. The Space Panthers team scored an outstanding 81.219, far higher than any of their competitors. The finalists will now compete in Houston, Texas, from April 20th to the 22nd.

StellarXplorers is a program to inspire and attract high school students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and careers. Created and produced by the Air Force Association (AFA), a 501(c)(3) educational organization, StellarXplorers features an exciting, space focused competition using professional tools to address real-world problems. The program provides a hands-on space design challenge involving all aspects of space systems development and operation with a spacecraft and payload focus