Rockets 2026, Central Texas/Stonewall Edition, continued today. The original schedule listed 15 rockets for today tested by four schools. 25 rockets were hold overs from Thursday’s and Friday’s weather delays, so that upped our total for the day to 40. We were able to accomplish this so no contingency day tomorrow,
The team and volunteers started at 7:30 this morning and the pad was loaded and began launching at 7:47. The flow of rockets to the rails continued steadily throughout the day with the final rocket off the rail by 7:45 this evening. We had clear blue skies and a nice breeze all day which meant no weather delays. And the temperatures started in the 50’s and ended at 69.
At the end of launches today we had one rocket from Hardin-Jefferson that after 4 times on the rail and multiple different repairs, still had a vent issue and refused to fill properly. So Coach Fogo decided to field test it and then load it up and take it back to Anahuac to launch next weekent at Smith Point.
After the completion of this weekend’s launches the Texas Rocket Trail will move to Smith Point in Anahuac, down in the Houston area for the final leg of the season before the spring launches end for another year. Those launches begin Thursday, May 7.
Pictures from the day’s events are on SystemsGo Facebook page, as well as my Facebook page. They can be found here:
The look on your students’ faces when their vehicle goes up and then is recovered is priceless. If they know you are watching and supporting them, then it is even more memorable. If you are not on site, then shoot them a text, letting them know you are watching online. Watch the Livestream here: Rockets 2026 Live Stream
New for this year, a recovery map link will be available for the schools to see pictures uploaded by recovery teams showing where and how their rockets were recovered. 2026 Recovered Rockets Data
More details will be available here each day. Reports featuring schedules, school names, pictures, and editorial content will be posted during the events if information is available.
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. Your students’ futures will benefit.
Rockets 2026, Central Texas/Stonewall Edition, continued today. The original schedule listed 22 rockets for today. Unfortunately for the launces, rain settled in for the day and caused a stalemate for launching. Instead, the schools for today came in and presented their rockets for approval in Stages 1, 2 and 3. At completion they were all loaded into box trailers to be launched later in the weekend.
Tomorrow and Sunday, yes Sunday, we will be going into contingency due to the rain delay if we cannot get all 40 launched tomorrow. They hope is that we do. Our record is 44, so according to our illustrious Executive Director, Rebekah Hyatt, “this should be easy!”
I do believe she has issued us all a challenge! But it should be one we can meet, since tomorrow we have blue skies and no rain.
Tomorrow operations will resume as usual with schools arriving at Stage 1 and 2 for prechecks and approval to move on to Stage 3 and launching. The original schedule for tomorrow listed 15 rockets. Now we will add the 22 from today and the 7 left from Thursday. Obviously there must have been some no shows from today or cancelations of some tomorrow to get only 40 for tomorrow.
We will start with the trailered rockets while we wait on the schools coming in tomorrow to get through all the stages of prechecks and approval to launch. Any schools that are present from previous days to watch let us know you are still with us.
The crew and team members are to report at daybreak to begin launching all the hold overs from Thursday and Friday while Saturday’s get through their flight checks.
The media group streamed the Stage 1 and 2 activities today since there were no launches to stream. They will resume streaming launches tomorrow.
After the completion of this weekend’s launches on Sunday, the Texas Rocket Trail will move to Smith Point in Anahuac, down in the Houston area for the final leg of the season before the spring launches end for another year.
Pictures from the day’s events are on SystemsGo Facebook page, as well as my Facebook page. They can be found here:
Tomorrow’s launches will continue at the Sammy Segner Ranch on Double Horn Road with Stages 1 and 2 will be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building.
Restrooms and wash stations will be provided at the launch site. Spectators are welcomed this year. Teachers are asked to bring pop-up tents for themselves and their students. Please remember sunscreen, chairs, umbrellas, extra snacks, drinks, and food. Downtime entertainment for the students to engage in between launches may also be helpful.
The look on your students’ faces when their vehicle goes up and then is recovered is priceless. If they know you are watching and supporting them, then it is even more memorable. If you are not on site, then shoot them a text, letting them know you are watching online.
The Central Texas/Stonewall launch dates, Livestream links and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org.
Schools participating this year in Stonewall: Fredericksburg HS, Union Grove, Roosevelt HS, Harleton HS, Canyon City HS CO, Fabens HS, Johnson HS, Bazoswood HS, Mustang HS OK, Victoria East HS, Future Ready Learning Complex, Atascosita HS, Victoria West HS, ACS, Alamo Heights HS, London HS, Hamilton HS, Hardin Jefferson HS, Odessa College
11 rockets are slated for testing on Saturday, with an additional 13 from Friday.
New for this year, a recovery map link will be available for the schools to see pictures uploaded by recovery teams showing where and how their rockets were recovered. 2026 Recovered Rockets Data
The sites will be open to admittance for students and teachers only at 6:00 a.m. Projected start time for launches is daylight. All is contingent on test vehicle readiness and ability to pass Stages 1 and 2. Mission Control will be ready for Stage 3 checks by 7:30 a.m.
Here are a couple of things that SystemsGo requires for your attendance:
There is no charge, but proof of registration is required before entering the site. You will be issued arm bands as proof and you must have them on at all times.
More details will be available here each day. Reports featuring schedules, school names, pictures, and editorial content will be posted during the events if information is available.
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. Your students’ futures will benefit.
Rockets 2026, Central Texas/Stonewall Edition, began today. The original schedule listed 20 rockets for today launched by 6 schools.
Of those, 13 were successfully tested today. All were good flights, although some had stability issues in flight , and several lacked deployment of chutes. Quite a few were successfully recovered, though some will need to be searched for tomorrow while retrieving new launches. We have 7 hold overs from today that will launch tomorrow or another day later in the weekend depending on the weather. Launches had to be called by around 7:30 pm due to bad weather. We had already had to shelter in place orders around 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm. A new thunderstorom was moving in as we all left the range for the day. Tomorrow’s forcast calls for rain for most of the day. We are currently all on standby for tomorrow pending weather. But do not fear will resume on Saturday, if we cannot launch tomorrow and also have Sunday as a contingency day to complete all our volley’s.
All rockets were tested by 7:40 pm and the site secured for the evening as storms are predicted for over night in the area. Six team members congregated at La Tequila Jalisco for dinner after launches and then headed home for much needed rest before staring tomorrow’s session.
Class A Event Rentals arrived to set up tents for Mission Control, Media and spectators. The FHS “Grub Uber Alles” Culinary Arts Trailer set up shop and provided concessions for the weekend. Later LCRA and Bee Creek Communications brought in equipment to provide Internet WiFi and Radio communications.
Tomorrow 22 rockets are on the schedule, built by 7 different schools. The seven left from today will be added to that provided we launch.
Pictures from the day’s events are on SystemsGo Facebook page, as well as my Facebook page. They can be found here:
Tomorrow’s launches will continue at the Sammy Segner Ranch on Double Horn Road with Stages 1 and 2 will be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building.
Restrooms and wash stations will be available at the launch site. They are provided again this year by Duane Neffendorf and Hill Country Pump Service.
Some of this year’s sponsors at CTX Rockets are Adam R. Scripps,
Stroeher and Olfers, Inc.
and AMSAT Amateur Radio In Space.
AMSAT is hand radio operators group. They broadcast out all over the world on old style hand radios. They began sending out their signal and stories about the rocket launches earlier this week. They have reached over 30,000 people even as far away as Africa and Indonesia. As they seek to bring attention to the rocket program and provide listeners and conversation about the program, they also hope to further promote the use of hand radios across the world and across age groups in order to keep an original art alive.
New for this launch, the media group, Fredericksburg/Billies Live is operating the Livestream this week at the Stonewall launch. Page Findley seeks to involve present and former students in this venture in order to promote media at local events. Today we have three participants from the group including Conner a homeschool grad student, who started out working for a church doing similar duties, and then sought out an advance in career in order to learn more about audio/video and so joined the group. Sergio, a Fredericksburg High grad, and Yocelyn a current FHS student. They are just one group working for the media program. They can do as many as four events in a day when called upon.
Spectators are welcomed this year. Teachers are asked to bring pop-up tents for themselves and their students. Please remember sunscreen, chairs, umbrellas, extra snacks, drinks, and food. Downtime entertainment for the students to engage in between launches may also be helpful.
The look on your students’ faces when their vehicle goes up and then is recovered is priceless. If they know you are watching and supporting them, then it is even more memorable. If you are not on site, then shoot them a text, letting them know you are watching online.
The Central Texas/Stonewall launch dates, Livestream links and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .
Schools participating this year in Stonewall: Brazoswood HS, Mustang HS OK, Victoria East HS, Future Ready Learning Complex, Atascosita HS, Victoria West HS, American Communnity Schools Abu Dhabi
15 more rockets are slated for testing on Saturday.
New for this year, a recovery map link will be available for the schools to see pictures uploaded by recovery teams showing where and how their rockets were recovered. 2026 Recovered Rockets Data
Here are a couple of things that SystemsGo requires for your attendance:
Any member of the public wishing to attend a launch is required to register online and agree toLaunch Day Entry Form / Waiver Scan or Click There is no charge, but proof of registration is required before entering the site. You will be issued arm bands as proof and you must have them on at all times.
The sites will be open to admittance for students and teachers only at 6:00 a.m. Projected start time for launches is 9:00 a.m. All is contingent on test vehicle readiness and ability to pass Stages 1 and 2. Mission Control will be ready for Stage 3 checks by 8:00 a.m.
After the completion of this weekend’s launches, Saturday, the Texas Rocket Trail will move to Smith Point in Anahuac, down in the Houston area for the final leg of the season before the spring launches end for another year.
More details will be available here each day. Reports featuring schedules, school names, pictures, and editorial content will be posted during the events if information is available.
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. Your students’ futures will benefit.
Rockets 2025, Central Texas/Stonewall Edition, continued today. The original schedule listed 11 rockets for today tested by two schools. 13 rockets were hold overs from yesterday’s weather delay, so that upped our total for the day to 24.
The team and volunteers started at 7:30 this morning and the pad was loaded and began launching at 8:29. The flow of rockets to the rails continued steadily throughout the day with the final rocket of the rail by 6:35 this evening. We had clear blue skies and a nice breeze all day which meant no weather delays.
At the event today, Executive Program Director, Rebekah Hyatt and Program Director, George Burns, presented the 2025 Gene Garrett Scholarship to a student from Fredericksburg High School, Emmitt Harper.
Yesterday in this blog I wrote about a new school at the event this year from Mustang High School in Oklahoma. They were able to successfully test their rocket. It left the rail sailing high and well. However their chute didn’t depoly completely so it had a semi ballistic landing and their altimeter bay was lost leaving them unable to analyze their flight data. Non the less they are super excited about the successs that they had and look forward to next year. They plan to display their rocket pieces and use it to encourage future classes as well as additional schools in Oklahoma to consider being a part of the SystemsGo program. They all agreed they learned more from the program than they could have imagined. Their rocket’s lift off is the cover photo for today’s blog.
After the completion of this weekend’s launches the Texas Rocket Trail will move to Smith Point in Anahuac, down in the Houston area for the final leg of the season before the spring launches end for another year. Those launches begin Friday, May 8.
Pictures from the day’s events are on SystemsGo Facebook page, as well as my Facebook page. They can be found here:
The look on your students’ faces when their vehicle goes up and then is recovered is priceless. If they know you are watching and supporting them, then it is even more memorable. If you are not on site, then shoot them a text, letting them know you are watching online.
More details will be available here each day. Reports featuring schedules, school names, pictures, and editorial content will be posted during the events if information is available.
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. Your students’ futures will benefit.
Rockets 2025, Central Texas/Stonewall Edition, continued today. The original schedule listed 23 rockets for today. A combination of issues on the pad and rain later in the day slowed progress. Early on it was rockets returning to Mission Control to trouble shoot issues. But by 4:00 this afternoon rain was moving in causing first a few short delays, and then later a permanent shut down of launches. Some schools are returning to watch them launch, while others elected to leave and watch their launches on Livestream.
One school returning tomorrow, Mustang High School from Oklahoma.This is their first year, and the class is still a pilot program at the school but is fast gaining support and recognition. They hope their rocket flies well and they get it back so it can be used to encourage the program at their school. The team and teacher, Gary Knowles, were all energetic and excited about their project. They pruposely booked an extra night just to be sure they would get the opportunity to see their vehicle fly.
Below the group works through their FRR at Stage 1 hoping to clear by the end of the day. They were down 3 pertinent team member so they lead engineer was taking on the role of trouble shooting each point on the paperwork. Their teacher, Gary Knowles, said he was doing an amazing job of thinking things through, but that he definitely had a different style of reasoning than the leads on some areas of the project. He was very proud to see how well they were all pulling together to get things accomplished.
This year, this class was a pilot program for the school and even shared class space and time with the Aviation class. He believes it has proven itself and will get a dedicated hour for class and space all it’s own. He says he is really behind the program and what it teaches, and his students agree. Good luck tomorrow, Mustangs!
After the completion of this weekend’s launches tomorrow, the Texas Rocket Trail will move to Smith Point in Anahuac, down in the Houston area for the final leg of the season before the spring launches end for another year.
Pictures from the day’s events are on SystemsGo Facebook page, as well as my Facebook page. They can be found here:
Tomorrow’s launches will continue at the Sammy Segner Ranch on Double Horn Road with Stages 1 and 2 will be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building.
Restrooms and wash stations will be provided at the launch site. Spectators are welcomed this year. Teachers are asked to bring pop-up tents for themselves and their students. Please remember sunscreen, chairs, umbrellas, extra snacks, drinks, and food. Downtime entertainment for the students to engage in between launches may also be helpful.
The look on your students’ faces when their vehicle goes up and then is recovered is priceless. If they know you are watching and supporting them, then it is even more memorable. If you are not on site, then shoot them a text, letting them know you are watching online.
The Central Texas/Stonewall launch dates, Livestream links and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .
Stage 1 & 2 at Stonewall Chamber of Commerce: 250 Peach Street, Stonewall, TX 78671
Schools participating this year in Stonewall: Fredericksburg HS, Johnson HS, Hamilton HS, Kingwood HS, Roosevelt HS, Atascocita HS, Victoria East HS, Victoria West, Harleton HS, London HS, Alamo Heights HS, Union Grove HS, Canon City HS, Brazoswood HS, Future Ready Complex, Mustang HS
11 rockets are slated for testing on Saturday, with an additional 13 from Friday.
A Livestream for each launch will be provided here:
The sites will be open to admittance for students and teachers only at 6:00 a.m. Projected start time for launches is 7:30 a.m. All is contingent on test vehicle readiness and ability to pass Stages 1 and 2. Mission Control will be ready for Stage 3 checks by 7:30 a.m.
More details will be available here each day. Reports featuring schedules, school names, pictures, and editorial content will be posted during the events if information is available.
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. Your students’ futures will benefit.
Rockets 2025, Central Texas/Stonewall Edition, began today. The original schedule listed 20 rockets for today launched by 6 schools. Of those, 19 were successfully tested today. All were good flights, some lacked deployment of chutes. Quite a few were successfully recovered, though some will need to be searched for tomorrow while retrieving new launches.
The site took on a new look this year as they moved the pad 90 degrees to face east andthe MC to face west toward it. This was oriented to attempt to keep more of the rockets on the Segner and Weinheimer ranches for easier and faster recovery. It also helped with the evening sun in Mission Control and the Media tents.
All rockets were tested by 6:40 and the site secured for the evening as storms are predicted for over night in the area. Eleven team members congregated at Campo Azul for dinner after launches and then headed home for much needed rest before staring tomorrow’s session.
The concesstion trailer is for this year’s CTX Rocket event is run by Toothless BBQ from Stonewall, Texas.
Their main menu included turkey legs, pulled pork sandwiches, sausage sandwiches, sausage on a stick, and loaded mac-n-cheese.
Tomorrow 23 rockets are on the schedule, built by 8 different schools.
Pictures from the day’s events are on SystemsGo Facebook page, as well as my Facebook page. They can be found here:
Tomorrow’s launches will continue at the Sammy Segner Ranch on Double Horn Road with Stages 1 and 2 will be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building.
Restrooms and wash stations will be available at the launch site. They are provided again this year by Duane Neffendorf and Hill Country Pump Service.
Some of this year’s sponsors at CTX Rockets are Adam R. Scripps, Vogel Tractors and AMSAT Amateur Radio In Space.
Spectators are welcomed this year. Teachers are asked to bring pop-up tents for themselves and their students. Please remember sunscreen, chairs, umbrellas, extra snacks, drinks, and food. Downtime entertainment for the students to engage in between launches may also be helpful.
The look on your students’ faces when their vehicle goes up and then is recovered is priceless. If they know you are watching and supporting them, then it is even more memorable. If you are not on site, then shoot them a text, letting them know you are watching online.
The Central Texas/Stonewall launch dates, Livestream links and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .
Stage 1 & 2 at Stonewall Chamber of Commerce: 250 Peach Street, Stonewall, TX 78671
Central Texas-Stonewall 2025 Flight Schedule
Schools participating this year in Stonewall: Fredericksburg HS, Johnson HS, Hamilton HS, Kingwood HS, Roosevelt HS, Atascocita HS, Victoria East HS, Victoria West HS, Harleton HS, London HS, Alamo Heights HS, Union Grove HS, Canon City HS, Brazoswood HS, Future Ready Complex, Mustang HS
11 more rockets are slated for testing on Saturday.
The sites will be open to admittance for students and teachers only at 6:00 a.m. Projected start time for launches is 9:00 a.m. All is contingent on test vehicle readiness and ability to pass Stages 1 and 2. Mission Control will be ready for Stage 3 checks by 8:00 a.m.
After the completion of this weekend’s launches, Saturday, the Texas Rocket Trail will move to Smith Point in Anahuac, down in the Houston area for the final leg of the season before the spring launches end for another year.
More details will be available here each day. Reports featuring schedules, school names, pictures, and editorial content will be posted during the events if information is available.
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. Your students’ futures will benefit.
Rockets 2024, Central Texas/Stonewall Edition, continued today. The original schedule listed 27 rockets for today. 23 were left from yesterday that were unable to launch due to weather. The plan had been to try to get some of yesterday’s off the rails while waiting for today’s to move through from Stage 1 to Stage 3. The weather again did not cooperate so when a launch opportunity finally opened up at 2:20 this afternoon we started with those who were present and ready from today’s docket.
The first volley consisted of 3 successful launches and recoveries. The next volley of 4 involved three from today and one, #68 from yesterday. All had beautiful flights, but unfortunately went unrecovered as 2 are believed to be on the Iron Game Ranch and 2 more on the Klein property across the road. We did not have permission to enter those properties today, but will later in the weekend and they may be recovered at that time.
Tomorrow only 7 rockets are on the schedule, but we still have 22 left from Thursday, and 17 left from today. That sets the grand total still to be launched to 46. Once again if we get better weather and an opening in the clouds before those 7 for tomorrow are ready, we will fill in the time with some of our holdovers from yesterday and today. If our 7 are ready when the sky is ready, then they are up first. Either way we will try to launch as many as weather permits tomorrow.
Program Director, Rebekah Hyatt has already made plans with teachers, volunteers(as available) and land owners to launch on Monday and Tuesday to try to get all vehicles tested if weather permits. Hopefully it does not come to that, but unfortunately the current weather reports are not in our favor. After tuesday the team has to transition to Anahuac/Smith Point for the SETX launches.
Test vehicles like these often push the time schedules all on their own. Vent hoses, o rings, altimeter switches, and a host of other issues can send a rocket on numerous trips from pad back to Stage 3 and back again. Weather, as we have all seen again this year effects the schedule as well. We have been under Severe weather watches all weekend, and the possibility is still there. It has not been on our side so far this weekend, let us hope tomorrow shows us a brighter day, will hold off the rain and lift the cloud ceiling until we are done. The team would like to call it complete and not go into one or maybe more days of contingency.
After the completion of this weekend’s launches be it tomorrow or later, the Texas Rocket Trail will move to Smith Point in Anahuac, down in the Houston area for the final leg of the season before the spring launches end for another year.
Pictures from the day’s events are on SystemsGo Facebook page, as well as my Facebook page. They can be found here:
Tomorrow’s launches will continue at the Sammy Segner Ranch on Double Horn Road with Stages 1 and 2 will be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building.
Restrooms and wash stations will be provided at the launch site. Spectators are welcomed this year. Teachers are asked to bring pop-up tents for themselves and their students. Please remember sunscreen, chairs, umbrellas, extra snacks, drinks, and food. Downtime entertainment for the students to engage in between launches may also be helpful.
The look on your students’ faces when their vehicle goes up and then is recovered is priceless. If they know you are watching and supporting them, then it is even more memorable. If you are not on site, then shoot them a text, letting them know you are watching online.
The Central Texas/Stonewall launch dates, Livestream links and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .
Stage 1 & 2 at Stonewall Chamber of Commerce: 250 Peach Street, Stonewall, TX 78671
Central Texas-Stonewall 2024 Flight Schedule
Saturday, May 4, 2024
School Name / Teacher 1/1 Trans
London
Toni Castle 1 2
Alamo Heights
Colin Lang 2 2
2 Schools Launching
Totals 3 4
Total Rockets 7
Schools participating this year in Stonewall: Fabens HS, Fredericksburg HS, Johnson HS, Hamilton HS, Kingwood HS, Marble Falls HS, Roosevelt HS, Georgetown HS, Atascocita HS, Victoria East HS, Harleton HS, London HS, New Tech Odessa HS, Alamo Heights HS, Union Grove HS, McGregor HS, Canon City HS
15 rockets slated for testing on Saturday.
A Livestream for each launch will be provided and will be available at www.systemsgo.org on the Events page each day.
The sites will be open to admittance for students and teachers only at 6:00 a.m. Projected start time for launches is 10:00 a.m. All is contingent on test vehicle readiness and ability to pass Stages 1 and 2. Mission Control will be ready for Stage 3 checks by 8:00 a.m.
More details will be available here each day. Reports featuring schedules, school names, pictures, and editorial content will be posted during the events if information is available.
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. Your students’ futures will benefit.
Rockets 2023, Central Texas/Stonewall Edition, continued today. The original schedule listed 26 rockets for today. Three rockets aborted, bringing the total launched to 23.
Georgetown arrived at Stage 3 first with 7 vehicles, making the first full volley all theirs, with rockets in the air starting at 10:51 a.m. Mission Complete was at 7:07 p.m. It was a slightly longer day today.
Tomorrow only 15 rockets are on the schedule, as compared to Thursday’s 18 and today’s 23. Numbers do not mean a thing when it comes to rockets. Tomorrow could be a short day, as is the hope, or another long one. Test vehicles like these quite often push the time schedules. Weather effects the schedule as well. We have been under Severe weather watches all weekend, and the possibility is still there. It has been on our side so far, let us hope tomorrow will hold off until we are done as well. The team would like to call it complete early.
After tomorrow, the Texas Rocket Trail will move to Smith Point in Anahuac, down in the Houston area for the final leg of the season before the spring launches end for another year.
An author and a photographer from Texas Coop Magazine were onsite today, watching the program, taking photos and talking to people involved in the program. They plan a future article for the program in an upcoming edition of the magazine.
Past SystemsGo student and current NASA Flight Director for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Bekah Sosland Siegfriedt, brought her family out to watch today’s event. She is responsible for putting The Perseverance Rover on Mars.
Program originator, Brett Williams, also stopped in today.
Pictures from the day’s events are on SystemsGo Facebook page, as well as my Facebook page. They can be found here:
Tomorrow’s launches will continue at the Sammy Segner Ranch on Double Horn Road with Stages 1 and 2 will be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building.
Restrooms and wash stations will be provided at the launch site. Spectators are welcomed this year. Teachers are asked to bring pop-up tents for themselves and their students. Please remember sunscreen, chairs, umbrellas, extra snacks, drinks, and food. Downtime entertainment for the students to engage in between launches may also be helpful.
The look on your students’ faces when their vehicle goes up and then is recovered is priceless. If they know you are watching and supporting them, then it is even more memorable. If you are not on site, then shoot them a text, letting them know you are watching online.
The Central Texas/Stonewall launch dates, Livestream links and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .
Stage 1 & 2 at Stonewall Chamber of Commerce: 250 Peach Street, Stonewall, TX 78671
Central Texas-Stonewall 2023 Flight Schedule for Saturday
Saturday, May 6, 2023
School Name / Teacher
1/1
Trans
London Toni Castle
1
1
Alamo Heights Colin Lang
3
2
Canon City Chad Ford
2
2
New Tech Odessa Maria Lopez
4
4
Schools Launching
Totals
10
5
Total Rockets
15
Schools participating this year in Stonewall: Fabens HS, Fredericksburg HS, Johnson HS, Hamilton HS, Kingwood HS, Marble Falls HS, Roosevelt HS, Georgetown HS, Atascocita HS, Victoria East HS, Harleton HS, London HS, New Tech Odessa HS, Alamo Heights HS, Union Grove HS, McGregor HS, Canon City HS
15 rockets slated for testing on Saturday.
A Livestream for each launch will be provided and will be available at www.systemsgo.org on the Events page each day.
The sites will be open to admittance for students and teachers only at 6:00 a.m. Projected start time for launches is 9:00 a.m. All is contingent on test vehicle readiness and ability to pass Stages 1 and 2. Mission Control will be ready for Stage 3 checks by 8:00 a.m.
More details will be available here each day. Reports featuring schedules, school names, pictures, and editorial content will be posted during the events if information is available.
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. Your students’ futures will benefit.
Today was the first day of launches for the Rockets 2023 Central Texas Launch Event here in Stonewall, Texas. 22 rockets were originally slated for testing. At Mission Complete for the day, 18 were launched, and four were no shows. Recovery retrieved all but three and returned them to the students. Two of the Recovery teams headed up by the launch area landowners were still searching for the missing three ballistic rockets, so they may be waiting at the site when everyone returns for tomorrow’s launches.
It was a slow start for lift offs from the Pad today, with the first and only rocket in that volley screaming into the sky at 11:10 a.m. after the cloud ceiling holding us a bay finally permitting a window. Unfortunately, those same clouds kept rockets on the rails waiting until 1:45 p.m. Heavy clouds moved in after that volley, so lunch was called, but the afternoon sky showed its blue beauty for the rest of the afternoon allowing a continuous flow of vehicles skyward. All rockets for the day were complete by 5:00 p.m.
A possibility of rain and severe weather was predicted for the afternoon and evening, but held off, so that was a blessing for the day. Weather can either make for quick turnarounds on launches, if vehicles are waiting to go, or cause lengthy delays or daily aborts to flight schedules. Currently the local forecast still has the potential for storms and rain, so the sooner your rocket gets to the rail the better chance you will see it launch if weather persists.
As for the launches, themselves, they were an interesting kaleidoscope of flips, turns, tailspins, dives, and self-destruction as all left the rail. Many had beautiful flights, but only a few had perfect deployment and easy landing. Others broke into body, coming in on a dive and chute floating away in a different direction making locating all pieces challenging. While others did a post launch ballet in the sky and thumped to the ground in the vicinity of Pad and Mission Control, which did make them easier to locate.
The 2023 Brett Williams Scholarship was presented to Andrew Mills from Fredericksburg High School on site today. Andrew and his parents took photos for the presentation with SystemsGo Executive Director, Rebekah Hyatt.
SystemsGo has been giving a chance to “Launch A Rocket” as a raffle prize at local events for the past few years. This year’s winner was Stonewall native, Bernice Burg. Mrs. Burg came out today to collect on her prize. She was instructed on the Fill and Fire system at Mission Control, and then launched several rockets in one volley. Afterwards Program Director, George Burns, took her to the Pad to watch a rocket launch from the Bunker. When asked what she thought, she responded that she enjoyed the whole experience and was really glad she came.
Pictures from the above-mentioned events, and rockets as well as progress at the site to this point are on SystemsGo Facebook page, as well as my Facebook page. They can be found here:
Festivities continue with launches resuming tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday at the Sammy Segner Ranch on Double Horn Road and Stages 1 and 2 will be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building.
Restrooms and wash stations will be provided at the launch site. Spectators are welcomed this year. Teachers are asked to bring pop-up tents for themselves and their students. Please remember sunscreen, chairs, umbrellas, extra snacks, drinks, and food. Downtime entertainment for the students to engage in between launches may also be helpful.
The look on your students’ faces when their vehicle goes up and then is recovered is priceless. If they know you are watching and supporting them, then it is even more memorable. If you are not on site, then shoot them a text, letting them know you are watching online.
The Central Texas/Stonewall launch dates, Livestream links and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .
Stage 1 & 2 at Stonewall Chamber of Commerce: 250 Peach Street, Stonewall, TX 78671
Central Texas-Stonewall 2023 Flight Schedule for Friday
Friday, May 5, 2023
School Name / Teacher
1/1
Trans
Victoria East John Reilly
4
Hamilton Tom Parrish
1
1
McGregor Jonathan Whatley
1
1
Georgetown Nicole Bolen
5
2
Fabens Julieta Banuelas
3
1
Atascocita Amy Keesecker
6
1
6
Schools Launching
Totals
20
6
Total Rockets
26
Schools participating this year in Stonewall: Fabens HS, Fredericksburg HS, Johnson HS, Hamilton HS, Kingwood HS, Marble Falls HS, Roosevelt HS, Georgetown HS, Atascocita HS, Victoria East HS, Harleton HS, London HS, New Tech Odessa HS, Alamo Heights HS, Union Grove HS, McGregor HS, Canon City HS
26 expected rockets for testing on Friday.
A Livestream for each launch will be provided and will be available at www.systemsgo.org/events as each launch date arrives. Friday’s is as follows:
The sites will be open to admittance for students and teachers only at 6:00 a.m. Projected start time for launches is between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. All is contingent on test vehicle readiness and ability to pass Stages 1 and 2. Mission Control will be ready for Stage 3 checks by 8:00 a.m.
More details will be available here each day. Reports featuring schedule links, school names, results, pictures, and editorial content will be posted during the events if information is available.
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 benefited.
Next Friday, December 22, the Fredericksburg High School Engineering/Rocket Program will dismiss for Christmas break. When they do, five weeks will have passed since the last update on their program. This is a busy group, and there is plenty to report on their learning and progress as we wrap up the fall semester.
The Freshman have been learning about production/manufacturing engineering and have recently completed their project which was an orange juice manufacturing factory design. The class split into working groups of four because of the complexity of the problem. Their product goal for the plant was to take raw material and produce packaged juice in palletized product bundles ready for sale. According to Mr. Matthes, “It was a successful endeavor with lots of different results when it came to the challenging research it required.”
On Friday, December 15, they presented their latest project over engineering fluidity. Each student was expected to work independently to create new launch lugs for the senior level rocket. Their new lug designs need to be more aerodynamic than the current lugs. Each student was able to show what they were capable of on their own, instead of having the co-dependency of fellow students. This solo venture challenged them to create a multiview drawing of their own new design, as well as featuring their understanding of units of measurement and how they all work together, something that will be of great significance for their final project in the future, which is to research the math and then design a hybrid rocket motor. A highly significant amount of math and even more units will require their careful attention in that upcoming project . What they are learning as they work through this propulsion/aerospace problem will become relevant to them again when they begin their junior studies in 19 months. Therefore it is an important study in which to end the course.
Just to remind everyone, the Sophomore students are still working in a self paced manner in this year’s class. Therefore a good growth mark for them in their class progress is 3D printing, which they have recently begun. They have also shown marked achievement in their Autocad, Dimensioning and Isometric drawing skills. In part this is due to their receptiveness to all the constructive feedback.
Luke Duderstadt working on Autocad.
“They have advanced tremendously in their attention to detail, ability to see things with greater special awareness, and pride in workmanship. The transformation has been fun to witness,” states Mr. Matthes.
LabVIEW programming is an important focus for the juniors. At this point, Mr. Matthes says it is too early to tell their final success in this area, but so far, they are progressing well.
Fluids and aerodynamic drag have been the focus of their studies related to rockets these past five weeks. After learning these new skills, they were able to test them on the design and development of their Generation 3 rockets. In order to do this, they had to create a rocket that was stable with exactly a ‘margin’ of 1 while reaching 1800 feet in RockSim simulation and design software. Students were able to launch their actual Gen 3 rockets on Friday, Dec. 15 after they had in class rocket presentations and evaluations that morning. Additionally they were further challenged with a short deadline in which to create these rockets. They met this head on and were ready for presentations.
“It was collectively the best group of Gen 3 flights I have seen in years,” reports Mr. Matthes.
Bradley Plaza and Carl Wilger prepare to launch their Generation 3 rocket.
Jabin Gipson and Rudy Avila model their Generation 3 rocket on launch day.
They will detail the many lessons they learned, including results from mistakes in design, construction, evaluation process, and the significance of attention to detail in their post mission analysis (PMA). As they begin their second semester project, all these lessons will be critical learning tools in the success of this larger rocket.
Mr. Matthes reported, ” I was thoroughly impressed with all of them. It was the kind of work ethic that will make their senior year a success if they can manage to keep up the motivation and focus.”
Critical design reviews (CDR) are the main focus for seniors on all four of their projects, which include the Red Bird #19 Rocket, a wind tunnel, the NASA large motor test stand, and the Small HyperTek interface test stand, known as Baby Bird. Currently the group is running short on time their schedules and task lists are not reflecting all that they should. There is a possibility that they are either not aware of all that they have missed, or they are really close to being ready. Mr. Matthes is unsure at this point which one it is.
Pictured here is the seniors’ flow straightener prototype for their wind tunnel. It was 3D printed on a Makerbot.
They are scheduled to hold a preliminary design review with alumni at 10:00 on Wednesday, January 10th, here in the classroom. A full CDR will be due at the end of January.
“One potential reality is that if it becomes evident there is not enough time for everything, some project(s) may require postponing. We are hoping for the best,” states Mr. Matthes.
On Friday, December 22, 2017 at 10:30 in Mr. Matthes’ classroom, last year’s alumni will be presented with their banner for flying the Red Bird #18 at White Sands Missile Range. Seniors will have a question and answer session with alumni to share experiences and receive advice.
At 7:00 p.m. also on Friday the 22nd, all alumni of the Fredericksburg Aeroscience/Engineering program are invited to come to Hondo’s and join Mr. Williams and Mr. Matthes for visiting over dinner and drinks. It will be casual, come and go as you like bringing significant others and friends as desired.
Mr. Matthes reminds all program students, “In January, the spring program begins and deadlines and target dates for their projects become highly important in order to meet projected launch dates.”
NEW YOU (National Engineers Week Youth Outreach United) continues its progress in planning the 4th-8th grade engineering outreach event to be held on February 17th. Look for more in the newspaper and students of those grades bring home flyers in January.
This article is the Third for the 2017/2018 school year in a series of monthly updates that will follow the Fredericksburg Engineering/Rocket program. This school is a participant of the SystemsGo STEM program. This series of articles is intended to support and encourage 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.
Luke Duderstadt working on Autocad.
Bradley Plaza and Carl Wilger prepare to launch their Generation 3 rocket.
Jabin Gipson and Rudy Avila model their Generation 3 rocket on launch day.
Pictured here is the seniors’ flow straightener prototype for their wind tunnel. It was 3D printed on a Makerbot.
On the Wings of Angels 