Rocket Mocs Faculty Advisor Trevor Elliott, left, consults with Eli Welch, team lead Nathan Gastelum and Addi Whittemore during a Nov. 15 rocket build outside the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Photo by Angela Foster.
The Rocket Mocs have plans to ascend to new heights.
The team, comprised of junior and senior mechanical engineering students in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS), has been accepted into the 2025 Student Launch Challenge—an annual competition sponsored by NASA—for the seventh consecutive year.
The Rocket Mocs are one of 71 teams from across the U.S. participating in the competition. The nine-month-long challenge will culminate with on-site launch events beginning in spring 2025. Final launches are scheduled for May 3 at Bragg Farms in Toney, Alabama, located just north of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
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On Nov. 15, the Rocket Mocs began their journey with a rocket-building event in the CECS breezeway. The 10-member team was joined by students in the UTC Rocketry Club in building certification rockets.
The team lead is senior Nathan Gastelum, a native of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.
“We’re excited to show what we can do,” Gastelum said. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s also an incredible experience to design something, build it with your team and see it take flight.”
The rocket build, he said, is the initial step.
“For our senior capstone project, we’re proving we can build and recover rockets as part of the certification process,” Gastelum explained. “This is just the first phase as we move toward designing our full-scale rocket for the competition.”
The NASA Student Launch Challenge requires teams to design, build and launch a rocket while adhering to a complex set of requirements.
Each year, NASA updates the university payload challenge to reflect current scientific and exploration missions. The 2025 payload challenge takes its cues from NASA’s Artemis missions, which aim to land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon.
Teams are tasked with integrating STEMnauts—non-living objects representing astronauts—into their rockets. The STEMnauts must relay real-time data to mission control, simulating communication systems critical for lunar exploration.
Rocket Mocs Holland Luttrell, left, and Hafsa Wasim
In addition to the engineering and science objectives of the challenge, a vital component of the NASA challenge is public engagement—a responsibility overseen by Rocket Mocs member Holland Luttrell.
“Our goal is to make STEM accessible to people of all ages,” said Luttrell, a native of Chattanooga. “We’re tasked with engaging 250 individuals through various STEM initiatives, and it’s rewarding to share the excitement of rocketry with the community.
“It’s a lot of work being a part of the team because NASA has a lot of requirements—but it’s exciting. It’s fun. It’s rewarding.”
Luttrell initially came to UTC to study cybersecurity because “I’ve just always liked math and sciences,” but switched to mechanical engineering after her first semester.
“I’ve been in mechanical since then and I really like it, but this is actually my first time building a rocket,” she said.
Gastelum and Luttrell are joined on the 10-member Rocket Mocs team by Tyler Cooper, Aaron Forsha, Andrew Hale, Graham Higgs, Kevin Sosa, Ian Tidwell, Hafsa Wasim and Eli Welch.
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Last year’s team lead, Rett Stockman, and fellow May 2024 graduate Connor Mackey now work as graduate students with UC Foundation Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Trevor Elliott.
“One of the things I’m doing is helping with software issues,” Stockman explained. “We use different simulation software to design the rockets, test them, calculate flight paths and do stuff like that—and there’s a learning curve to it. Most people who haven’t done rockets have never used it.”
Stockman compared himself to a coach on the sidelines in supporting the group in a mentorship role.
“Watching this year’s team start from scratch and come up with new designs and ideas is really exciting,” Stockman said. “Having been in their shoes, I understand the challenges they’re facing, but I’m here to offer guidance when they need it—whether that’s with simulations, software or general problem-solving.”
The Rocket Mocs possess an impressive legacy. In 2018, they achieved the top ranking in the nation by launching a rocket to an altitude of 11,563 feet, securing victory in the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Rocketry Contest.
In 2020, the team set a world record by launching a rocket to an altitude of 17,267 feet—equivalent to 3.3 miles. This achievement was officially verified by the Tripoli Rocketry Association, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing amateur rocketry.
The 2024 Rocket Mocs team won the NASA Student Launch Initiative 3D Printing Award in a competition involving 49 other university teams nationwide. According to the program’s website, the award goes to “the student team with the best consideration, design and implementation in regard to 3D printing of rocket and payload.”
“This year’s team has incredible talent and the largest group we’ve ever had,” said Elliott, the Rocket Mocs’ faculty advisor. “Last year’s team set a high bar with their success, but I’m confident this group has the skills and resources to meet that challenge.”
Learn more
UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science
Rocket build photo gallery by Angela Foster
