Category: Rockets 2016

Monday, T-1 Briefing and Set up Day at WSMR Results in Slight Schedule Change

SystemsGo and the participating schools had a productive first day at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) today. They started the day with the T-1 Briefing. This is basically WSMR rules and regulations for the range. It covers all basic information such as weather conditions, wind speeds, airspace schedules and logistics.

WSMR personnel made introductions so all involved would know who they are and who to contact for help from the base. After the T-1 brief they teased that it was the “dumbed down” version for civilians. At the end Scott Netherland introduced the SystemsGo team and specified their roles with the organization.

By 10:30 they were headed down range to West Center 50 launch site. This is where the schools, SystemsGo, and WSMR personnel spent the afternoon getting ready for tomorrow’s launches. All equipment and rockets had to be set up and completed to meet the Tuesday testing schedule. Everything went well and it was a very productive day albeit a little long and quite hot.

Union Grove had a small problem with their vehicle that kept it from passing the pressure tests so in order to be sure that the schedule would stay on course tomorrow, they moved  Alamo Height’s smaller rocket into the first launch window for tomorrow morning, because they had to have one on the rail and ready tonight to keep the schedule. Union was able to fix their problem and pass the second round of pressure tests so they will resume as the second launch in the morning.

Because of this tomorrow launch schedule is as follows:

  • 8:30 a.m. Alamo Heights High School (1)
  • 11:00 a.m. Union Grove High School
  • 3:00 p.m. Alamo Heights High School (2)

Due to the 8:30 T time tomorrow will be an early day for SystemsGo team and schools. They will be leaving for the range by 5:30 a.m. Alamo Heights parents going to Range Control to view the launches will be leaving at 6:15 a.m. Subsequently parents with Union Grove will be heading to Range Control by 9:00 a.m.

If it is a perfect day and all goes well with no exceptions with each launch, then the tests should be complete by 3:00 p.m. Realistically this is a very tight launch sequence with little to no room for errors. As long as each rocket that loads the rail leaves without any issues at ignition this schedule will hold and therefore the next days will follow as currently scheduled. If one vehicle has to be taken down from the rail then the next launch window will be lost and the schedule will have to shift.

Therefore let us all hope and pray for the best for each school so that they may have a successful launch tomorrow and that all schedules hold true.

Here is the current preview of the launches scheduled for Wednesday. Tomorrow’s blog will have a final schedule for the day based on Tuesday’s test success.

  • Wednesday launch order: Anahuac, Booker T. Washington (1), Booker T. Washington (2)

Event details will continue to be available here. I will provide more information each morning as to how the schedule and other event details will progress for that day and how launches went for the schools testing that day. Pictures are not allowed on the range, but some pictures of teams getting ready to leave for the range with their vehicles might be available. If anything is available I will post it for your viewing pleasure.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org .Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Sunday Rockets Headed to White Sands-Day 1-Report and Monday Early Information

The SystemsGo team rolled out of Fredericksburg at just before 9:00 a.m. this morning to head out to White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico and arrived at Alamogordo around 5:30 this evening. Travel went well, and two schools, Alamo Heights and Booker T. Washington met us there.

Tomorrow is an informational and set up day. SystemsGo personnel and only student and teacher participants from the schools head out at 6:00 a.m. for T-1 briefing  and afterwards setup at West Center 50 launch site.

Event details will continue to be available here. I will provide more information each morning as to how the schedule and other event details will progress for that day and how launches went for the schools testing the previous day. Pictures are not allowed on the range, but some pictures of teams getting ready to leave for the range with their vehicles might be available. If anything is available I will post it for your viewing pleasure.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org .Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Team photo includes from left to right, Ginger Burow, Scott Netherland, Randy Kuhlmann, Steve Burow, Brian Heffner, Gene Garrett, Andrew Matthes ,Rebecca Hyatt, and Josh Hampton. Not available for this picture, Chelsea Burow.

WSMR Rocket Launches Fast Approaching

The SystemsGo Rocket program now transitions to Goddard level rockets. These rockets and their subsequent launches at WSMR (White Sands Missile Range) are the culmination of all the skills the students have learned throughout their years in the STEM program. This is the final senior project for those schools that participate in this level of the SystemsGo program.

Launches are scheduled for June 27 through July 1. The group will travel out to WSMR on Sunday, June 26, and back home again on Saturday, July 2.

These launches have been anywhere from June to mid August in past years, with multiple rescheduling happening all the way up to time to leave because of Army necessity. Actually having a fairly concrete date this year means students have to be on their game and get their vehicles completed on a tight schedule. According to Fredericksburg’s STEM teacher, Andrew Matthes, their group has a deadline of today, Friday, June 10 to have their rocket completed and ready to travel. Other schools involved most likely have similar dead lines.

As of Wednesday, June 1, the class was reported by Mr. Matthes to be on schedule with final modifications being made in all areas, including the following:

  • The after section for the motor is at Rode’s Welding for attachment to the 10′ long Nitrous tank
  • Avionics is installing the payload in the forward skirt
  • Propulsion has had a successful pour of their HTPB fuel grain, and is now working on the fuel canister
  • Nose cone is completing the shoulder part which sticks into the airframe of the rocket
  • Fins are in the attachment stage of the aft motor section

Notice in the above list, that Rode’s Welding is mentioned. Part of the skills learned in this program is when and where to contract other professionals to finish a component. Most of the components of this vehicle are finished by the students, but when there is an area that requires a more professional skill base, the students have to know how to draw out specific design models and calculations and present them to a welder, machinist or other entity so that they are created according to the design they have drawn out for the completed vehicle.

There are 5 schools scheduled to launch 6 for sure, possibly 7 rockets. These schools include:

  • Alamo Heights (2)
  • Anahuac (1)
  • Booker T. Washington (1 for sure, possibly 2)
  • Fredericksburg (1)
  • Union Grove (1)

This year is unique in that the Army has some classified tests scheduled that involve the range (West Center 50), SystemsGo uses to launch. Therefore, instead of launching straight through and then leaving, there will be a break in the schedule on Wednesday, when the group will not be allowed access to the range. SystemsGo is looking into activities for the group to do on that open day.

When I checked in with Mr. Matthes and his class on their project status, this was the enthusiastic response they delivered.

Jacob Eckhardt, “We are cutting it close but we’re working on getting it done, full force.”

Mr. Matthes added, “with reduced workforce.”

This is a common malady of the program for the senior group. After school lets out it is  hard to keep them focused, but there is always a dedicated contingency of the team that usually stays on point and gets the vehicle completed and off to WSMR.  This is just a hazard of the launches being a summer trip after graduation. Even with this, 95% of the time, the project makes it to White Sands.

Today is 23 days out until the group leaves for WSMR. Watch this blog in upcoming weeks for more information and a launch schedule to be posted.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org .Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

 

 

 

Rocket Camp for Grades 4-9

 

Rockets are not just for high school students. If you are in grades 4-9 there is a rocket program just for you. It is the Community Education Rocket Camp. It will be held in room# 401 at the Fredericksburg High School on Monday, June 6 through Thursday, June 9.

High school STEM/Rocket program instructor, Andrew Matthes and an assistant, will help each student build and launch their personal rocket. The laws of rocket stability, aerodynamics and fluid dynamics will also be taught providing students with a better understanding of the vehicle they are building and what makes it fly.

Two sessions will be held daily. The morning session will be from 9:00 a.m.-12 noon, and the afternoon session will be from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.  Camp tuition is $99  and each student will receive a camp t-shirt, and all the supplies needed to complete their vehicle.

The students will launch their vehicles during their class session on Thursday at the practice field next to the Fredericksburg Primary school. Parents are invited to watch.

This camp is a great introduction to the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) program. It is a fun and educational way to peak your child’s interest in future learning. Plus they get to build, launch and keep their rocket as a trophy of their accomplishment.

Here is a link to the Community Education brochure for the summer session. The Rocket Camp is on page 2. The registration form is on page 8.

https://fisd.org/commed/FISD%20Community%Ed%20Flyers/SUMMER%202016%20BROCHURE.pdf

Camp starts Monday, so if you are interested it would be best to bring your payment and registration form in to the FISD district office at 234 Friendship Lane, Fredericksburg, Texas. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Registration for this class is available until class limits are reached or classes begin at 9:00 a.m.  and 1:00 p.m. on Monday.

Fredericksburg, Houston Done-Next Stop White Sands Missile Range

The SystemsGo team made it home safely, around midnight Monday morning after a very wet and soggy couple of days of launching in Clute, Texas, down south of Houston. In spite of weather they were still able to accommodate the schools on the roster for the weekend. Some of them had to be moved to Sunday due to a bad storm that shut launches down early on Saturday. This same storm unfortunately soaked all the electronic equipment shutting down the Livestream permanently for the rest of the weekend.

The recovery teams spent days wading in water to recover rockets for the schools. Several storms went over the area during the two days, delaying launches and adding even more water to an already water drenched range. Even so, it was still a successful weekend for the team and the schools participating.

With Fredericksburg and Houston rocket launches complete for the 2016 season, SystemsGo and the schools with 4th year STEM classes in the program focus solely on finishing the Goddard level rockets. These much larger scale vehicles will travel to White Sands Missile Range(WSMR) the last week in June to launch. At the moment, these launches are scheduled for June 27 through July 1. That is still subject to change as the Army determines need, all the way up to the day they leave. Preliminary estimates look good though that they may stay as currently planned. As the time moves closer I will post updates to let everyone be aware of the exact dates. Of course, there is no public access or live feeds from this launch because it is on a military base and is heavily guarded and controlled.

I will continue to provide information on the program in upcoming weeks. Watch for upcoming articles with interviews with past students from the program and how SystemsGo and the STEM program helped shape and influence their lives.

Event details will  also continue to be available here. As schools and schedules finalize I will provide a list of  those schools traveling to WSMR. The week of the launches I will provide information as made available to me from team members on site as to how launches have  gone for those schools shooting on that particular day. Pictures are not allowed on the range, but some of teams getting ready to leave for the range with their vehicles might be  available. If anything is available and passed on, I will post it for your viewing pleasure.

The STEM program benefits our children’s future. Sponsors and volunteers are always needed. Check into how you can support the program in your area.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org .Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Houston Rockets 2016-Sunday

Sorry I am late again today! I had to get a certain US Navy girl to the airport first. So I’m in the airport posting from my phone. Sure hope it works! Safe travels Kasey Burow! We will miss you!

Yesterday, a storm late in the afternoon soaked the electronics equipment, taking out the Livestream for the weekend. Launches continued though. I will still post the link just in case you want to see some of the previous feeds.

http://livestream.com/accounts/3165037/events/5423012

Today the SystemsGo team will have three more schools and eleven more rockets to launch plus yesterday’s group that cancelled because of rain,before packing the whole site up again and heading back to Fredericksburg. This schedule is a rigorous one for them that makes for a really long day. So for their sake, I hope that all the launches go off quickly and perfectly so that they can get done early and get on the road. Please no 3:30 am arrival time back in Fritztown again this year. Rain has already been a big factor for them today with storms rolling through adding water to an already water-logged range.

Below is the schedule for launches for tomorrow.  Good luck to all the schools.

Sunday, May 22, 2016
School
Name		 # 1st Level
Tsiolkovsky		 # 2nd Level
Oberth
Booker T. Washington HS
Dr. Nghia Le		 2 1
Channelview High School
Alan Stone		 3
SF Austin High School
Richard Hubbard		 5
Schools Launching  3
Totals 10 1
May 22nd Total Rockets 11

 

Here are just a few pictures sent in from team members on site. Credits are attributed to each. Looks like it is an interesting launch down there this year.

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1142293862458410.1073741866.100000334203350&type=3

No new pictures yet today so the link is ysterday’s.

Event details will be available here each day of the event. Daily reports featuring schedules, school names, results, pictures if available, and some editorial content will also be posted.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org .Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Houston Rockets 2016 Day 1-Saturday

Ok, folks sorry this is so late. My computer decided to do an update this morning that I tried to stop it from but it won.

Today is the first day of Houston rocket launches. I had reports that the team was at the site at 8:30 this morning getting rockets ready to launch. The site was covered in running creeks and swamps. Check my Facebook page and I will post the pictures of this that Steve Burow from recovery sent in this morning. Unfortunately snakes and alligators are quite prevalent at the site as well.

Even with all this launches are going on. I realize that by now most of you have probably found the schedule on the SystemsGo site which I have made available in all my previous posts, but I will post it again here. Obviously by now they should be well into it by now. Unfortunately I can’t get it to load on mine so you will just have to follow the link and see for yourself. Here it is. I have had a report of a storm going through the area and that has  put the feed down for the day. It will  hopefully be back for tomorrow, but crews are unsure right now because the equipment did get soaked and has to dry out.I will still post the link just in case early feed may still be available.

http://livestream.com/accounts/3165037/events/5422984

Here is was today’s schedule:

Saturday, May 21, 2016
School
Name		 # 1st Level
Tsiolkovsky		 # 2nd Level
Oberth
Anahuac High School
Kirk Moore		 1 1
Brazosport High School
Bradley Nelson		 1
Brazoswood High School
Dale Hobbs		 1 1
Davis High School
Hasan Johnson		 2
Eisenhower HS
Jacobo Arriaga		 2
Kingwood Park High School
Jim Brown		 2
Liberty High School
Matthew Williams		 2 1
Victoria East High School
Adam Wertman		 1
Victoria West High School
Cheryl Clark		 1
Schools Launching  9
Totals 13 3
May 21st Total Rockets 16

Here are just a few pictures from on site today sent in by team member there.

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1142966825724447.1073741867.100000334203350&type=3

Event details will be available here each day of the event. Daily reports featuring schedules, school names, results, pictures if available, and some editorial content will also be posted.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org .Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

 

Houston Rockets 2016- Travel & Set up

The StsytemsGo team left Thursday after noon headed to Clute, Texas down by Lake Jackson, which is south of Houston. They arrived safely at their hotel at 7:44 that evening. Today, they are busy setting up the launch site, and readying everything for an early start tomorrow.

Launches will be all day tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday with 12 schools launching a total of 27 vehicles. Hopefully weather will not give them any trouble with all the recent rains and flooding.

Please be advised that this is a very small launch site, and it doesn’t allow public access, but there will be Livestream from there again so friends and family can still watch the action.

As I mentioned previously, Phil Houseal will be traveling along with the  team this year to conduct interviews on the site with students, teachers, team and other person’s of interest at this launch much like he did here at Willow City.  This is a great new addition that allows the public to get a glimpse at education in motion. Get online and watch these students as they learn and share first hand.

Zach Pooser, owner of Chassis by Zach is on site providing the Livestream up-link.  Here is the link to the live stream for the Houston launches.

http://livestream.com/accounts/3165037/events/5422984

Zach and Phil provide a great experience for both viewers at home and the students and team on site while helping to bolster the STEM program. Allowing the public to share in the actions and see what these students are accomplishing as they apply all they have learned and continue to learn from their launch results helps SystemsGo to grow interest in the future of the STEM program and the hands on approach to learning.

Here are just a few pictures from when the team left on Thursday.

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1142293862458410.1073741866.100000334203350&type=3

Event details will be available here each day of the event. Daily reports featuring schedules, school names, results, pictures if available, and some editorial content will also be posted.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org .Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

After Fredericksburg and Before Houston Rockets

Yesterday was the first day after Fredericksburg Rockets 2016, time to go back to work and the real world. It was my daughter, Kasey’s 21st birthday. We celebrated with her at Auslander Restaurant with good food and family. No drinks though, she just wasn’t interested. I think she has seen too much in the military with friends that drink. Not a bad thing though. We are just excited to have her home for her birthday, something that hasn’t happened in three years. Her sister, Chelsea is on the way home right now to do a little celebrating with her today since she couldn’t be here last night, so there is still more fun to be had. Congratulations Kasey on your birthday. We love you bunches!

Chelsea and Steve are heading to Houston on Thursday with SystemsGo to help schools in that area launch more vehicles. Unfortunately I won’t be able to make this trip this year so no pictures to post unless Chelsea, Phil, Steve, or other team members send me some shots. Usually I do get one or two from their phones that I can use with this blog, just no big picture posts on Facebook. They will be quite busy so I am not counting on anything like that. I do good to get daily report information to pass along for this blog, but I will get that.

This launch will be Saturday and Sunday. There will be 12 schools and 27 new rockets to send skyward. This is a very small launch site out in the swampy area near Clute, and it doesn’t allow public access, but there will be Livestream from there again so friends and family can still watch the action.

Phil Houseal will be traveling along with the  team this year to conduct interviews on the site with students, teachers, team and other person’s of interest at this launch much like he did here at Willow City.  This is a great new addition that allows the public to get a glimpse at education in motion. Get online and watch these students as they learn and share first hand.

Here is the link to the live stream again. This is actually the link for Sunday’s live feed at Willow City last weekend, but for now, until new feeds start on this Saturday, it will get you to the Livestream site.

http://livestream.com/accounts/3165037/events/5379604

Please remember that since there is no pubic access to this event,  there are no tickets for order like there were last week in Fredericksburg.

Event details will be available here each day of the event. Daily reports featuring schedules, school names, results, pictures if available, and some editorial content will also be posted.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org .Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Rockets 2016-Sunday’s Report-End of Fredericksburg Launches

Today was a light day for launches. Only two schools and four rockets. All launched and three were recovered. The fourth a Transonic, once again sailed off into oblivion. Unfortunately that is just the nature of the beast, but hopefully where ever it lands someone will return it. Shoots never deployed on it as far as we were able to tell, so it may be a lawn dart in someone’s pasture and may be too unrecognizable for them to know what they have and where to return it. We can only hope that is not the case. The goal is always to return the vehicle to the students because they learn from what happens after launch  and landing as well as from building and firing the rocket.

I would like to congratulate SystemsGo on another successful launch weekend at Stewart’s Hillview Ranch for Rockets 2016. While this weekend’s launches are completed, there are still launches in Houston next weekend and White Sands Missile Range(WSMR), later this summer.

Launches here at Fredericksburg Rockets went amazingly smooth this year. We held a tight schedule this year. With the exception of only a few, if a rocket made it to the pad, and onto a rail, it launched the first try. They were racking them on and putting them up in phenomenal order.  Everyone involved actually had down time in the evenings after launches were done this year. That was a nice and welcomed thing.

This last evening we even had time to go home rest and then come back together for a little fun and visiting outside of the site. Thank you to Scott Netherland for providing that time.

I would also like to say how thankful I am to this program. I have had two daughters go through it and  continue on to schooling and careers related to what they learned from SystemsGo and the high school program.

Secondly I would like to thank SystemsGo for having us as volunteers for the program  each year.It is so wonderful to be counted as a valued part of this group and it’s operations.  I am really happy to be part of such a fantastic education based program for our youth.

As I mentioned earlier, the Houston launches are  next weekend, May 21 and 22. I will try to have updates on how those are going, as information is available. Also the Livestream will be operational from there as well. Phil Houseal will be there doing PR and conducting interviews with people involved there.  The Livestream link is still the same and is provided below.

http://livestream.com/accounts/3165037/events/5379604

Good luck to those schools launching in Houston. I will post schedules for those on those days. One thing to note is that the Houston launches are not  open to viewing by the public. The facility is not large enough to provide parking and spectator area for this event, so schools and students involved only.

The Goddard level launches are still coming up hopefully in late June. There is a tentative date, but I won’t be posting that until closer to time since they can still be subject to change at the Army’s need. I will keep everyone posted on that as well as information is available.  Good luck to all those schools and safe  travels when you go there. For more information as usual check their website at www.systemsgo.org .

The following is a link to the album of pictures from today’s launch. Have a look you and your school rocket just might be in there.

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1139283419426121.1073741865.100000334203350&type=3&pnref=story

Event details will be available here each day of the event. Daily reports featuring schedules, school names, results, pictures and some editorial content will also be posted.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. You may also email them at info@systemsgo.org .Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.