Category: Texas Highways

Fredericksburg’s Engineering/Rocket Program-Rockets 2018 Willow City Launch Week Pre-Launch Update

Today is Wednesday, April 25, and the juniors are a day away from testing their vehicle at Stewart’s Hillview Ranch in Willow City at Rockets 2018. They will be launching on Thursday, but the time will be determined on site. Also, this year the larger class volume meant two teams and two rockets.

According to Mr. Matthes, Engineering Instructor, both teams finished both rockets on time this year. They were due by the end of class, last Thursday. Both teams made use of the after school hours requirement in order to finish, with a couple of students stretching that to midnight in order to complete the work.

As of Monday, both vehicles were described as being in good shape by Mr. Matthes, with the only issue still in play, attempting to lighten the weight in order to increase speed.

Aside from that, Mr. Matthes had this to say about the upcoming launch, ” I do not rubber stamp any rocket.  Failure is an option in the program as it is in life.  If the students have a rocket that passes inspection, goes to the pad and gets tested they are successful…but the rocket can still fail.  The existence of uncertainty is partly why the students are so invested in their rocket.  It is because it is their solution without guarantee of meeting the project’s objective.  They’ve poured their hearts into this project for five months and will get to see their ‘babies’ launch, just as parents hope to see the fruits of their parenting, without guarantees of outcome, launch their children into life.  This is an inherent part of research.  Paramount though is the fact that true failure only occurs if the process stops and lessons are not learned in the process.”

He also commented that he had seen GREAT looking rockets fail so he’s reticent about getting the students’ hopes up too much.  And on the flip side, I  have seen some rockets that I thought for sure would fall apart on the way down to the pad, and they amazed us all.

Flight Readiness Reviews(FRRs) were due by the end of class on yesterday, Tuesday. One team completed by the bell, but the other will be capping off at the beginning of class on Wednesday.

 Robert Sanchez and Esten Cooke with their vehicle.

 Pictured here are Ander Castaneda, Dawson Harkins, Cody Blohm, Deja Turkett, Cooper McDonald, Josh Handley, Gloria Burns, and Ethan Scott.

 Team members Robert Sanchez and Gloria Burns.

Pictures provided by Katie Burns.

Some juniors and seniors will have an opportunity to work at the launch pads during the event.  This affords them the chance to get experience prepping the rockets for flight and getting closer to the action. This is a privilege typically reserved only for seniors.

Unfortunately I was unable to obtain a picture and Team name from Team 1.

Pictured below is Team 2 with their rocket.

Meusebach (Team 2): Clockwise from #1 at the bottom. Cooper McDonald, Cody Blohm, Ander Castaneda, Deja Turkett, Josh Handley, Gloria Burns, Robert Zowie, Eduardo Memije, Ethan Scott, Dawson Harkins, and Rudy Avila show off their rocket just after completion last Wednesday evening, April 18th.

If you plan to attend any of this year’s launches please register for your attendance ticket at https://www.greateventseats.com/SystemsGo or they may be gotten at the gate. These are free but required for admittance to each site.  Reserving them ahead at the website is preferred to obtaining them at the gate because the latter slows entrance to the site and may result in you missing the viewing of your intended launch.

You may also view any of these launches on Livestream. That link is available on the SystemsGo or at the following link from them: Here is the link to the live stream again. https://livestream.com/systemsgo

The launch schedules for each venue are available at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ . I will post it here for each launch day as well. I want it to be as accurate as possible so I will refrain from posting schedules until the evening before each launch day in case there are any late changes.

Here is a PDF  map link and Google graphic map link to the site. These links are available on the SystemsGo web site as well.

Please watch the SystemsGo website, SystemsGo Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/SystemsGoEducation/posts/?ref=notif ,  SystemsGo Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/SystemsGoNews and this blog for upcoming information on these events.

This article is the fifth in a series, new for this school year ’17/’18 of updates that will follow the Fredericksburg STEM Academy/Rocket program. This school is a participant of the SystemsGo STEM program. This series of articles is intended to support, encourage, and challenge students in the program as they share their working status and accomplishments throughout the year in the program. These publications will be available for tags and re-posting.

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.

#RideTheSky #Rockets2018 #SystemsGo #FredricksburgEngineeringRocketProgram #Launcher01

Rockets 2018- Fredericksburg Launches Start in Willow City, Thursday

The SystemsGo team has returned from the Jal Launches of Rockets 2018, and immediately transitioned to Willow City on Monday as launches begin there Thursday for Fredericksburg Rockets 2018. Launches at the Stewart’s Hillview Ranch in Willow City will only be 3 days this year, Thursday, April 26 through Saturday, April 28. Teams are already well into all the preparation to make this another fantastic event.

This testing site covers the Fredericksburg and Hill Country area schools and all Texas schools not participating in the Houston launches. Currently there are 66 rockets scheduled for launch by 24 schools at that location.

Launches will begin Thursday through Saturday at approximately 8:30 a.m. and will last at least through 5:30 p.m. each day, wind weather and rocket readiness provided.

Phil  Houseal will be providing Livestream from the site again this year so friends and family can watch the action online if they cannot attend the event. Joyce BK Abbey the voice of rockets will be keeping us informed and up to date throughout each day, as well as providing Rocket Trivia,  and her special brand of on site entertainment. Be sure to also watch for interviews with the rocket teams.

Texas Concessions will be providing food, snacks, and refreshments at the launch site once again this year. Restrooms will be available on site as well.

There is an 80% chance of rain Wednesday evening, so be prepared for damp conditions on the range on Thursday if that actually materializes. Of course they still have a 10% chance in for Thursday too, but then all that may change again, because as we all know Texas weather doesn’t live by the weather man’s predictions. Therefore, it is always best to be prepared for all conditions as it may be cold in the morning, hot in the afternoon, windy, rainy, or sunny.  Sunscreen, rain gear and a chair are recommended. Also be advised that weather will play a factor in launch time availability and may cause delays. Please be patient.

Please remember that since there is public access to this event, there are registration tickets for order and those may be found on the SystemsGo website as well at this  link:  https://www.greateventseats.com/SystemsGo . They are FREE, but REQUIRED. There is a waiver for admission you will sign along with your admittance ticket. You can get them at the gate but it is strongly advised to do this online ahead of time so that you do not slow yourself or anyone else down getting onto the range. This could cause you and others to miss your intended launches.

Here is the link to the live stream again. https://livestream.com/systemsgo

Map links to the site in both PDF and Google graphics are on the SystemsGo website at the following link:

http://www.systemsgo.org/events/

But just in case here is a picture of the PDF style map:

And here is the PDF  map link and Google graphic map link to the site as well.

Pictures  will be available here in this blog and in Facebook albums for you to view at the end of each days launches.  Phil and SystemsGo will be posting throughout the event on Facebook as well. Links to both our Facebook pages are below.

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow

https://www.facebook.com/SystemsGoEducation/

Here is the schedule of schools launching Thursday. It boasts 10 schools and 19 rockets:

Thursday, April 26, 2018
School Name / Teacher 1/1 Trans
Fredericksburg HS
Andrew Matthes		 2
Granger HS
Chaston Kubacak		 1
Hamilton HS
Tom Parrish		 1
Harleton HS
Hayland Hardy		 1 1
Henrietta HS
Sarah Dickey		 1 1
Hollenstein CTC
Rick Griffith		 3
Maypearl HS
Allex Wilson		 1
New Diana HS
Shawn Warden		 1
Roosevelt HS
Jared Warsing		 2 1
Union Grove HS
Greg Park		 2 1
10
Schools Launching
Totals 9 10
Total Rockets                 19

I will post each days schedules in this blog. They can also be found in original format on the SystemsGo website Events page.

More event details will be available here after the completion of Saturday’s event.

If you follow this program and like to view the launches, Rockets 2018  will continue with one more launch series at this level in May. This launch will be held in Smith Point just south of Anahuac, Texas for schools in the Houston area, on the weekend of May 11-13, 2018.  They currently have 56 vehicles scheduled for test by 15 schools at this site.  If you have been to the Houston area launches in the past you may want to check out the SystemsGo website for information because this location is only in its second year for that area. Information and a map link are available. This launch will also be available on Livestream and the link is listed above.

The senior/graduate groups are tentatively scheduled to launch their Goddard level rockets at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico in late June.  These are not available for public viewing or Livestream due to being tested on a military facility, but blog and SystemsGo updates will be posted online as available during that week.

More event details will be available here in upcoming days as events get closer. Daily reports featuring schedules, school names, results, pictures and some editorial content will be posted during the events.

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.

Hope to see you at the races, nope, but I will race you for a rocket!  #RideTheSky! #Launcher01 #ItISrocketScience #Rockets2018

Your local Recovery Team rocket Junkie wishes all the schools and students a picture perfect flight and recovery.

 

 

Thursday, Launch Day 2 at WSMR

Today’s rocket launches at WSMR were nothing if not eventful. Four tests were conducted today, and though all managed to leave the rail in a manner of speaking, none were quite the launch any of them were working towards.

The Anahuac rocket was the first test this morning and actually did leave the rail at 8:00 a.m. Shortly into the flight, it developed a burn through the side casing of the motor which caused it to spiral and nose over into its descent. No recovery deployed and it entered the range like a big dart after which the engine casing blew off. Despite this, it was still the most successful launch of the week in terms of altitude. There are conflicting reports as to the actual altitude therefore I will not release that information until final confirmation at a later date.

Booker T. had two rockets this year. One was their normal senior class rocket, and the second was a colaberation by three of their graduates from last year, Dillan McDonald, Oswaldo Vasquez , and Leslie Cosme .

These three took over their failed rocket from last year, and rebuilt it attempting to fix all the issues that prevented it from leaving the rail in 2016. They took it upon themselves to do their own fund-raising and sponsorships in order to pay for their project. These three very determined individuals would not settle for leaving their rocket behind. This vehicle, known as Golden Eagle 5, was the first of the Booker T rockets on the rail today. It tested at 9:15 this morning.

Unfortunately, it was still not the flight they had hoped to achieve. The vehicle ignited, but the engine case sheered off at the bolts and hung on the rail. The rest of the rocket continued to lift off the rail under the power of Nitrous and flew only a small distance before tumbling through the air and coming in ballistic not far down the range. So in a matter of speaking they got off the rail this year, but not truly a whole rocket launch. In spite of this they are still to be congratulated for accomplishing this rocket on their own.

Golden Eagle 6 was Booker T’s second rocket for the day. It had good lift off of the rail, but also developed a side burn out near the top of the engine casing and also nosed dived into the ground. Preliminary reports from optics at WSMR have the vehicle achieving 138 meters (400′) and 14 seconds of flight.

Alamo Heights repaired their rocket from the failed launch yesterday and were able to retest at 2:23 this afternoon. This turned out to be the most unusual and entertaining launch of the week. The vehicle ignited and smoked on the rail. It appeared at first that it would not lift off, but it did begin to lift about half way up the rail, before falling back down, shearing off the load cell and landing on the deck. The engine continued to burn and make small bounces as it sat there. It began to show Nitrous leaks, but the engine fired again and it began lifting up the rail a second time. About half way up it faltered hanging in place for several seconds before finally clearing the top of the rail. It was a short 9 second flight before it too developed a side burn and began to tumble end over end toward the ground. It landed engine first, popped the nose cone off, and then the engine broke free sending the body into the ground where it began its own short flight as it expelled the remaining Nitrous, did a vertical hop off the ground and crashed. Even with this dramatic flight, the vehicle did achieve 134 meters(300′) before it’s demise.

The mission was then called complete, and clean up and pack up began as this was the last day of testing for SystemsGo, students, and WSMR personnel.

Safe travels to all schools heading home, tomorrow. It is back to Texas and the upcoming Fourth of July Holiday, tomorrow. As for tonight, the team enjoyed dinner, drinks, conversation and an early bed time.

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.

 

Thursday, Final WSMR Launch Day

Today was the final day of testing at WSMR for SystemsGo student programs. Fredericksburg was the only official launch scheduled, with two remaining test times for any retests needed. Unfortunately it was a sad day for Fredericksburg as well. Their rocket had ignition but the injector failed therefore it never left the pad.

At first they were going to allow them a second test time at 12:30 p.m. but after inspection it was determined that they did not have enough spare components to repair the vehicle and so the second test was scrubbed.

At that point the SystemsGo team, Fredericksburg students and WSMR personnel cleaned up West Center 50 and left, officially ending our White Sands Missile Range launch operations.

This evening the team gets some much-needed rest time before returning to Fredericksburg. Except for Chelsea and Steve they are returning to Lubbock this evening and then to Fredericksburg on Friday evening. The team and the Fredericksburg students spent the afternoon seeing the New Mexico Museum of Air and Space and the White Sands National Monument, where they met the challenge of climbing and sliding down the dunes.

Tomorrow is back to Texas and a long Fourth of July Holiday weekend.

There were four out of seven rockets that left the rail this year. Seven out of seven would have been even better but this is still a good end to the season. The thing to bear in mind is that with all these tests whether they leave the rail or not there is always and element of further knowledge to be obtained from what transpired with each vehicle. That deducing, understanding and learning from both what went right and what went wrong whether the vehicle launched of not, and all the education and skills each student learned to get it to this point is the true important lesson.

Thank you so much to White Sands Missile Range for all the support, man power, time, education, entertainment, information and fun you provided in order for SystemsGo and these four schools to come out and test their vehicles. Your continued support in this education of future generations is highly appreciated.

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.

The picture on this blog piece is of the Fredericksburg rocket team this morning prior to their vehicle test. It was provided by team member Zane Brown. Team members are from left to right: Katie Habecker, Link Millard, Dorian Jones, Garrett Ottmers, Nathan Weatherford, Alex Scudder, Zane Brown, and teacher, Andrew Matthes.

Late Update to Wednesday, Launch Day 2 at WSMR

This is just a quick update to my earlier post. Booker T Washington has decided not to go for a retest on either of their failed rockets today. That means Fredericksburg is tomorrow’s only attempted launch test. It’s T time is 8:30 a.m.

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.

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.