Slingshots, catapults and launchers packed the outside mall area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on Friday, Dec. 4, as local middle- and high-school students, and JPL employees competed in the annual JPL Invention Challenge.

Twenty-three teams competed to create a device that could launch playground balls into three targets (shaped like the number 18 in honor of the 18th year of the competition) within 60 seconds.

Devices ranged from hand-operated catapults to motorized launchers with laser aiming, but it was some of the simplest designs that performed the best.

Read the full story on JPL News

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Kim Orr, Web Producer, NASA-JPL Education Office

  Kim Orr is a web and content producer for the Education Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her pastimes are laughing and going on Indiana Jones style adventures.