Missions to Mars and the moon have received a lot of attention since President Bush announced his intention to increase space exploration funding last week, but locally, some Casper students are already on the cutting edge of aerospace technology.

Last spring, a class of 27 high school and college students created the first entirely student-built rocket to take flight, an idea some universities are already trying to emulate, according to John Wickman, the students' rocketry teacher. NASA plans to launch the rocket from its Wallops base in Virginia sometime in late February.

"It's really a feather in the cap of Casper's youth, it's something that's never been done before," said Wickman, of Casper.

The students from Natrona County High School and Casper College embarked on a joint project last year with students across the country by building a seven-foot-long rocket motor that they will mate with a rocket body constructed at the University of Cincinnati.

Wickman said his rocketry class was designed to give students experience in all aspects of engineering and real-world applications.

He said the class also showed students how teamwork is an intrinsic component of engineering - students had to cooperate with one another, the University of Cincinnati and NASA engineers.

If one group altered its design by just a fraction of an inch, others had to change their designs, too, he said.

Andrew Temme, 16, was a high school freshman last year when he began work on the rocket.

"I did some of the basic drawings, and helped with the Center of Mass group calculations," he explained. "I learned lots of new math and physics that we're getting to in school this year."

The students even had to mix their own propellant - some magnesium powder, liquid resin and several other chemical curing agents - to form a "playdough-like, gooey, hard rubber-like substance," according to Wickman.

One high school student developed an electronic flight recorder to enable the rocket to log data as it climbs to 40,000 feet and plummets into the Atlantic Ocean.

The students already conducted a test run of the rocket motor last summer, and after making a few adjustments, the motor is now ready to launch.

After setting up a fund at Hilltop bank last month, Wickman received several donations that paid for the motor's finishing touches and trucking costs to move the heavy piece of machinery.

Wickman pointed out that NASA invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the student rocket project, so he is pleased the Casper students will be able to hold up "their end of the bargain" and deliver a finished project to the Wallops base.

Many of the students are hoping to travel to the NASA center at Wallops Island, Va., to take part in the three-day launching activities - but time is running out for them to raise enough money to travel to the East Coast.

He estimates that several thousand dollars are still needed to send the students to the NASA launch site.

With the new emphasis on space exploration funding, Wickman hopes he can create future rocket activities, and he plans to seek out new funding sources in the future. However, he said, his first priority is giving his current students a chance to see their hard work take flight.

The students still need money to help defray travel expenses to the NASA Wallops center.

Donations can be dropped off or mail to any Hilltop National Bank location, made out to "Casper Student Rocket Fund."