For the first time ever, five College of Engineering students will compete in NASA's Student Launch rocket competition. UNT Team Rocket — made up of seniors Karen Lyndsey Smith, Jessica Hampton, Joel Thompson and Luis Gonzalez and freshman Mitchell Buehler — was one of 42 university teams accepted into the highly competitive challenge.

The NASA Student Launch competition will take place April 5-9 in Huntsville, Alabama.

"This means so much to me," Hampton says. "I've watched all the NASA rocket launches, and someday I would love to get into work in the field with SpaceX or NASA. This is my dream, and this competition is giving me the chance to live it out."