Fredericksburg High School – Page 19

Fredericksburg Rockets 2016-Thursday, Day 1

Tomorrow is the start of Fredericksburg Rockets 2016. There is a 30-50% chance of thunderstorms all day tomorrow with a front moving through the area, so be sure and bring your rain gear.

Below is the schedule for tomorrows launches, There are currently 11 schools with a total of 21 rockets scheduled. I will try to post each days schedules in this blog.

Thursday, May 12, 2016
School Name	# 1st Level Tsiolkovsky	# 2nd Level Oberth
Birdville CTAL Lynn Barrett	2	2
Fredericksburg High School Andrew Matthes		1
Granger High School Chaston Kubacak	1
Hamilton High School Seaborn Ashby	1	1
Harleton HS Karen Brasher	1
Heritage High School Rebekah Hyatt	1
Kingwood High School Louis Mascolo	3	1
Marble Falls High School Randy Guffey	1
New Diana High School Shawn Warden		1
New Tech Odessa High School Richard Lindner	2
Roosevelt High School Jessica Quisenberry	2	1
11
Schools Launching
Totals	14	7
May 12^th Total Rockets	21

Good luck to all the schools. If I get a chance to do some updates during the day tomorrow , then I will but don’t count on it. It will probably just be one at the end of day. Here is the link to the live stream again.

http://livestream.com/accounts/3165037/events/5367166

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.

Have a great evening. I will see you at T minus 10 tomorrow morning.

Rockets 2016 Only a Day Away!

The start of Rockets 2016 is just over the horizon, so now is the time to send out some reminders. The Fredericksburg launches will be held at Stewart’s Hillview Ranch in Willow City Texas. Launch days begin Thursday, May 12, continuing on Friday, May 13, Saturday, May 14 and ending on Sunday evening, May 15.

Launch times are slated to be from 8:30 to 5:00 each day provided that everything runs accordingly with weather, arrivals, and mechanical readiness. Unfortunately weather could be an issue. Right now thunderstorms are predicted for Thursday and Sunday. Of course, it is Texas weather so anything goes, and so will the rockets at each opportunity Mother Nature provides. Rain does not stop this event, only delays it until the clouds give another clear opening. That does not account for severe weather conditions that would have to be dealt with as they happen for the safety of all.

Both sites are located north of Fredericksburg off Farm to Market road 1323. Site 1 for Exhibitors and Rocket Prep is located in Willow City at the Willow City Volunteer Fire Department, located at 2553 Ranch Road 1323 . Site 2, the vehicle Launch Site is located at Hillview Ranch. Signs will be stationed along the route to direct from State Highway 16 to the individual sites. The following is a map provided by SystemsGo website for driving directions and site locations.

SystemsGo offers live streaming of this event provided by Livestream.com . The following link offers the site location for this feed. It will be active by 9:00 a.m. on Thursday morning for viewing and comments. This link can also be found on the SystemsGo website.

http://livestream.com/accounts/3165037/events/5367166

Although there is no charge for the event, and these launches are open to public viewing, parking and seating is limited due to safety requirements. For this reason, SystemsGo has a provided a link for you to pre-order tickets for those in your party. This also provides SystemsGo with a way to monitor the number of people in attendance each year. This is in no way meant to discourage your attendance, but is instead to help them provide a great experience for students and spectators, while doing all possible to monitor safety issues and attendance numbers at any one time during the launches.

https://www.greateventseats.com/events.php?lID=92

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.

Fredericksburg/SystemsGo’s STEM Program Launches More than Rockets

As Fredericksburg Rockets 2016 counts down 2 more days until launch, this now 20-year-old program boasts much more than just building and blasting rockets skyward. This Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) program has bolstered the careers of many Texas young adults.

Hands on learning experience in STEM career basics like Engineering and Technology, Engineering Design and Presentation, Advanced Engineering Design and Presentation, Engineering Design and Problem Solving, and research and development, in a course setting that promotes project application has inspired many of our Fredericksburg students, as well as students across the state of Texas to follow a career in the STEM or business fields. Rockets may have been the catalyst that helped to teach them these skills along with other fundamental work place uses including teamwork, critical thinking, analysis, testing, leadership, innovation, invention, individual accountability, and work place compatibility, but the program itself was the deciding factor that created a lasting interest for these individuals to pursue related career fields.

Many students have gone through the program in the last 20 years, just here in Fredericksburg, let alone schools all across Texas that have been using this same model from SystemsGo. Unfortunately there is no recorded number to tell us how many, but just at an average of 17 students per class per grade level, that is approximately 1100 students here in Fredericksburg alone. Multiply that by 43 active schools currently on the list of participants that have joined the program over the last 20 years, and that is a lot of Texas students whose lives have been impacted by the program. New Mexico schools may soon be joining this program as well so that number will increase even more as the program expands outside of Texas.

The following, is just a handful of individuals, some from the early years of the program and some from more recent years. All of them credit the SystemsGo program for encouraging them and helping them to achieve where they are today.

Robert Deaver: FHS graduate 1998, BS in Electrical Engineering at University of Texas at San Antonio, MS in Computer Engineering at University of Tennessee. He was in the SystemsGo program in the first two years of it beginning and worked on the design, construction and flights of Redbird 1 and Redbird 2. He is currently an Electronics Engineer at Real Time Systems in Fredericksburg and a Team member of SystemsGo. Previously he worked at IBM and Dell.

Josh Jung: FHS graduate 1999, BS in Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering at Purdue University. He spent sophomore through senior years in the SystemsGo program working five Redbird rockets including:

RB-2: 8″ diam, 15′ tall, M-engine, 3 experimental recovery systems
RB-3: 2.5″ diam, 6.5′ tall, K-engine, Mach -1 rocket
RB-6: 3.5″ diam, 6′ tall, Mach-2 rocket (summer project)
RB-7H: 8″ diam, 20′ tall, hybrid engine, WSMR first attempt
RB-8H: 8″ diam, 27′ tall, hybrid engine, WSMR flight (upgraded the RB-7H)

Josh is currently the Director of the Falcon 9 Stage Test at SpaceX. He has previously been the Director of Ground Support Equipment, and Director of the Texas Test Site also at SpaceX.

Melissa Jung: FHS graduate 2001, undergraduate studies in Engineering at University of Illinois, ACOG in San Antonio, Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes Illinois. She was in the SystemsGo program her sophomore through senior years.

Melissa is currently working as an Avionics Electronics specialist on airplanes in the US Navy stationed in Norfolk, VA. Previously she worked as a patrol officer in the Fredericksburg Police Department.

Chelsea Burow: FHS graduate 2012, currently working on her BS at Texas Tech University in Physics with a Mechanical Engineering minor . Chelsea was in the SystemsGo program her junior and senior year. Their group built and launched RB-12.

She is unsure about her plans after graduation, but is looking into places like SpaceX, NASA, and SystemsGo. She continues to help with the SystemsGo launches to current date.

Derrick Loth: FHS graduate 2012, currently working on a dual major in Business Finance and Business Management at Texas Tech University. He was in the SystemsGo program his junior and senior years. He was part of the team that built and launched RB-12.

He graduates May 2016 and plans to work for the FDIC as a Federal Bank Examiner.

Kasey Burow: FHS graduate 2013, attended Basic Training at the Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, IL. She was in the SystemsGo program her sophomore through senior years.

She is currently in the US Navy stationed at the Norfolk Naval Station in Norfolk,VA. She is an Aviation Structural Mechanic on Sea Dragon helicopters in Helmineron 12 & 14.

Austin Walters: FHS graduate 2014, attends the University of Texas at San Antonio, and is working on a dual Bachelors in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. He was in the first full 4 year program offered by SystemsGo at FHS. He helped build and launch RB-15.

He plans to work for one of the Aerospace companies like SpaceX after graduation.

Anissa Kneese: FHS graduate 2014, currently attending Texas A&M. She is studying Mechanical Engineering. She was also in the first full 4 year SystemsGo program at FHS. She also helped build and launch RB-15.

She would like to work for one of the Aerospace companies after graduation. She continues to help at each year’s SystemsGo rocket launches.

While trying to find information on individuals for this piece I found the following link by Shaun Pyka done somewhere around the 2012-2013 school year. It show cases a slide show of many more past students and where they were at the time. Some of the work information may not be current anymore, but is still gives a good idea of how much this program has impacted the lives of its students.

http://slidegur.com/doc/1128314/shaun-pyka—systemsgo

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

Day 348-Rocket Season Launches in 21 Days

Only 21 days until the sounds of high-flying rockets fill the air over Willow City, TX with the launch of Fredericksburg Rockets 2016. SystemsGo’s innovative STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program featuring a rocketry/aeroscience curriculum is set to begin launches on May 12-15, 2016 at the Stewart Ranch in Willow City, TX.

As of March 9, the Fredericksburg launch schedule has 78 vehicles on track for testing. Twenty-nine schools are slated to participate.

The following weekend, May 21-22, 2016 launches continue in Houston, TX. The current schedule there, includes 12 schools and 27 test vehicles.

Later this summer, at White Sands Missile Range the final days of launches will commence with the Goddard level rockets, the largest in the program. The final date determined by White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), is yet to be announced.

If you are in the Willow City area on the mentioned weekend you should come out and watch. It is a fantastic sight to behold, and the energy and enthusiasm from the students is fun and contagious. Fredericksburg launches are open for public viewing and both Fredericksburg and Houston have live streaming available to view online at the time of the event.

Day 125-Battlin’ Billies, Battlin’ Off to a Good Start! Go Big Red!

School is in full swing again and we are already at the third game of the season and Homecoming to boot. The Battlin’ Billies are off to a great start this year with 2 wins under their belt. Both games were really good games.

The season opener against Lampasas ending in overtime 42-41 was a well matched high stakes game all the way through. I personally have not enjoyed watching a football game that much in quite a while, and that is said from a parent’s stand point, where we all love watching our kids play, whether win or lose. This game was truly phenomenal. it was so much fun from a spectator aspect.

The Austin Travis game was good as well, ending in a 46-28 win over the Rebels. Both teams put up a good fight. The early lead gave the Billies a chance to play second and third string players giving them much needed playing experience as well as allowing parents to see all their kids play football, since that is why we come.

This week the Billies face off against the Burnet Bulldogs for Homecoming. This has become one of our bigger rivalries these days since we no longer play the Tivy Antlers. Burnet always has a strong team, but the Billies have a strong team this year too. The juniors on our team that were JV last year have the boasting rights of being the only Fredericksburg team to best the Bulldogs last year, and they carry that momentum with them onto Varsity this year. That coupled with the already strong character and playing of this team so far this season, and tomorrow night’s match up should prove to be another really good game. The Billies have the potential to best the Bulldogs this year, and I believe that they will. No matter the outcome it will take complete team work, support, accountability and fight. This team has that in place, they just have to keep their heads fully in the game and back each other play for play. They have to believe they can win. They already have the talent to win, now is the time to put head, heart and playing skills all on the field.

This is the year Battlin’ Billies, it’s time to put the Bulldogs back in the dog pound.

Good luck tomorrow night boys! Go Big Red! Battlin’ Billies Uber Alles!

Day 108- Final Summer Week High Lights

August has just gone by in a blur. Football began on the third so things have been busy. Brett made Varsity this year, so that is both a “Yeah” and an “Oh my are we ready for this?” Varsity has a lot more parent involvement than the sub varsity teams did. So the short answer is, yes, Brett is ready and we are proud of him. I am not, but that’s ok, because here we go anyway.

I am ready for game nights though. We went to the scrimmage in Lago Vista, and it was so much fun watching him play again. I just pray all goes well with no injuries. That is always my fear. Seeing him on the field taking down other players is just so exciting. Go Billies! They play the Lampasas Badgers this Friday to kick the season off.

Chelsea took a week off work before school started again and came home. We had a real nice week together. Tuesday, she and I went to the San Antonio Zoo, the river walk and the Spanish market. We were crazy and walked all around to the places in the downtown area. We put over 8 miles on our feet in the 100 degree heat. I know, what were we thinking. The simple answer was we didn’t want to have to move the car and pay another parking fee. The real truth of the matter is I believe the heat got to us. We had a great time and ate at the Original Mexican Restaurant on the river walk.

We were absolutely exhausted when it was all over and barely made the drive home. We even had to stop in Comfort at the Luvs to grab another drink and walk around a little.

Thursday after the scrimmage we went to the Austin airport to pick up Chelsea’s boyfriend, Guy, after which we stopped at Jim’s at the Y to eat and still made it home at the same time Brett did. One side note to this evening, the road to Lago Vista is unbelievable. That area has their own built-in roller coaster system they get to drive on a daily basis. I would not want to live there and drive that all the time. Poor Chelsea got car sick just getting there. That road makes “Devil’s Backbone” on Highway 12 outside San Marcos seem to be a cake walk. The drive was definitely an adventure.

Friday was nice. We attended the Fair parade and then met my parents, brother and sister-in-law, and great-nephew for lunch at Enchanted Inn. Later that evening we went to the Gillespie County Fair.

While touring the grounds, we walked, visited and talked, which is actually one of the bigger high lights of the fair. You see people you don’t see the rest of the year, or don’t have time to visit with any other time. Later Steve went to the car and got our camp chairs because chairs were in short order around the dance floor. We sat off the edge of the floor where there was a nice breeze and we quite enjoyed it there. Friends joined us bringing in their chairs as well.

Saturday, after lunch at Porky’s we went to James Kiehl park on the river in Comfort and just played around in the water. Guy made a make shift fishing rod from a line he found and a stick. We had equipment with us in the car,but he found this to be more fun. He didn’t catch anything but did have bites stealing his bait, and he saw a needle nose gar swim by. He had never seen one before and wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Later we returned to the fair with our chairs in hand to attend the dance.

Sunday morning we loaded up Chelsea and Guy and then went to a friend’s house, where we loaded up more stuff Chelsea had in storage there and sent to two of them on their way to Lubbock. I always hate seeing her leave.

My mom and I had the opportunity to go see Fredericksburg Theater Company’s production of Greater Tuna. Mom has seen all but the Christmas Tuna from the original Greater Tuna plays and we were excited to see it here.

Before I say anymore about this, just let me say, that I love FTC and have never been disappointed in their shows. They are a top-notch group that Fredericksburg is so lucky to have. I am sure that all future performances will be just as award-winning as they have always been in the past. This is also not a direct reflection of FTC itself or even the performers, only this particular play.

That being said, if you are sensing a ‘but’ in here, you are quite correct. Let me remind you that my mom has seen the originals, and she was ready to leave this performance by the intermission. If we had we wouldn’t have been the only ones to do so. Most stayed through the whole performance, but there were some that left.

I had been so excited to see Greater Tuna because I had always heard so much about it both in media and from my parents, and I was so disappointed. This was so far below the standards of FTC. The humor was lame and lacking as was the story line. I did comment to mom at one point during one of the town news segments, that it was like watching an episode of the Doss News, which would have been more interesting. Shirley Lange could have written this and done a better job.

I read that they are planning to do the Greater Tuna Christmas as well. Honestly I think it would be better to quit while they are ahead, and go back to the type of magical stories and performances everyone is used to expecting and seeing at FTC. Yes it was sold out, but that was to be expected since they were per forming a play that had so much notoriety from its originals. As for Greater Tuna, mom and I agreed that this was just spoiled fish! Sorry if I offend anyone, you are entitled to your own opinion as am I, and this is mine and my moms.

On the brighter side, at least mom and I had something to go do together, since we don’t seem to manage that very often. The evening and weekend ended well as we spent time visiting with my parents at Dairy Queen and then their house. And now it’s back to the grindstone with work and school returning. Have a wonderful school year all. Go Billies!!!

Day 15-The Launch Pad Crew

Today’s blog is about the crew that runs the actual launch pad for the rocket tests. Most of this group is made up of past students that have gone through the SystemsGo program. They are all pursuing engineering careers at their respective universities. All three completed the program at Fredericksburg High School and ended that time there with a successful Goddard level rocket launch at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR).

Being at the pad, is both exciting and dangerous. Personnel here have the responsibility of loading each vehicle onto the rail, going for fill and relaying the go ahead for ignition.

These future engineers come back each year for several reasons. First and foremost they all enjoy what they are doing out there. Second as engineering students in college, this is a hands on opportunity to work in the field and have this addition for their resume`s. Lastly, they are big proponents of the program, and know firsthand what it has done for them and what it can do for students in the future so they want to help out and keep the program running, so that others will continue to have this opportunity. Most if not all of this crew will be traveling to WSMR later this summer to help run the launch of the Goddard level rockets being tested there as well.

These students include: Cade Ottmers, Annisa Kneese, and Chelsea Burow.

This year, Annisa brought a group of engineering students from Texas A&M to observe the program here first hand, and though I do not have all their names, I wanted to mention them because they also helped at the pad on Sunday. This gave them firsthand experience in what is being done.

Andrew Matthes, the program instructor at FHS, and retired teacher, Ned Butler, also provided assistance, instruction, and monitored safety at the pad throughout the weekend. They help insure that all procedures and checklists are followed to provide the most successful test of each vehicle.

The program wouldn’t be as successful as it is without the willingness and effort of the individuals at the pad. Each vehicle is literally in their hands in the last few moments before the test. They check for any final issues that might prevent launch, and stand by with each vehicle as it begins fill and watching for signs that the rocket is a go for launch. For this I applaud their hard work and resilience. This year alone they had a 100% launch rate, meaning that every vehicle that made it through the Stages 1, 2, and 3 and down to the pad, left the rail at launch. Congratulations Launch Pad Crew!

Thank each one of you for all you do and are willing to do to help each vehicle complete its launch. You are an outstanding bunch, and so detrimental to the program’s success on launch days.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Day 10-Fredericksburg Rockets Launches Day 3, Birthdays and Weddings

I am going to begin with a great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY, to MISS KASEY MARIE BUROW! Folks she is 20 today. We sand to her voicemail this morning and then texted her throughout the day in between her rides on rollercoasters with her cousin, Melissa Jung, and some of their friends. She claimed to be having a great time. I am so glad for that since she is so far away in the US Navy in Norfolk. We will be seeing her soon though for which we are looking forward.

Today was an interesting day. As luck would have it, we started the day once again with a low ceiling, drizzle, and fog. Because of that we didn’t start launches until around noon. Then at first, it was a race to get them up while we had a window in the clouds, but eventually that did burn off and rockets were racking up and going up on a pretty good schedule. We had a rare occurrence today to start off, something that just doesn’t happen too often, happened, and it sure made Captain Garrett a happy man. Stage 1 and Stage 2 had all the rockets show up early and most were set and ready and they were all done and moved to Stage 3 to await flight, by 8:30 this morning.

Therefore, we had quite an audience already by early in the day. There was a tent city of spectators set up behind the fence to see their schools launch. Rockets were filling all the tables in the big tent in the spectator area and well as the Mission Control tent, as soon as they could be approved by Stage 3 and cleared for flight. It was actually a neat sight. It added to the excitement of the day, and the high anticipation as we all waited for that window in the clouds to open up so launches could commence.

The first rack of 5 took a second attempt on the first three, but eventually 4 left the rails, with the 5th, the Whataburger rocket, returning to Mission Control for a small repair before returning again on the third rack set of the day.

We collected our first recovery for the day which landed about 150 yards in front of us, turned it in, grabbed or lunches and returned to our spot with them just barely in time for the second round, This round sent nothing our way, so we went to help look for several that had landed in the north to northwest areas of the range. We dug one out and then hunted until 3:20, when we realized we had to stop for the day in order to make Miss Brooke Patteson’s wedding, and she was such a gorgeous bride.. She is now Mrs. Brooke Hodges. Congratulations to her and Chris.

We did get side tracked on our way back because we finally located the rocket we had been searching for, and couldn’t possible leave it behind now. It was killing us to leave with less than half the rockets deployed, and as we were about to leave Mission Control, the Whataburger rocket took flight and wouldn’t you know it, landed literally right by our position had we still been there. I am sure, Team 3 collected that one for us after the rack was done. Guess we will find out for sure tomorrow.

The wedding was at Kairos Celebration Barn. It was beautiful and very short. The ceremony was conducted by Scott Hoffman, and he shared a short Aggie story about commitment, read the love passage from 1 Corinthians 13, had them do their vows and the rings, recited the Lord’s prayer, pronounce them married, had them kiss and then sent them inside to supper. No extra music, no extra anything else, just short, sweet, and done and we were inside celebrating with them. It was all very nice, the food was great, and then it was over and by 9:50 we were headed home again.

By the way, Chelsea, the rocket pad expert cleaned up quite beautifully for her walk down the aisle as a bridesmaid. She will be all shorts and rockets by tomorrow again, though.

Congratulations to all the schools that launched today, they included: Alamo Heights High School, Fort Stockton High School, Henrietta High School, McGregor High School, Northwest High School, and Union Grove High School. There are 9 launches scheduled for the last day tomorrow. I can’t believe Rockets 2015 will be coming to a close already. It has really gone by quickly. The launch schedule for tomorrow is listed below. Remember you can also find this schedule and the link for the Livestream at www.systemsgo.org .

School Name	# 1st Level Tsiolkovsky	# 2nd Level Oberth
Davis High School Hasan Johnson	1
Granger High School Chaston Kubacak	1
Harlandale High School Ann Thomas	1
Manor High School Will Davis	3
Sidney Lanier High School James Rankin	1	1
Victoria West High School Cheryl Clark	1

Schools Launching	6
Totals	8	1
May 17^th Total Rockets	9

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Good evening all. See you at the rocket launches tomorrow.

Day 9-Fredericksburg Rocket Launches Day 2, Rain, Sun, and Rockets

We awoke to rain this morning. The gauge at my house showed and inch and 40 points. This made for a wonderfully cool start to the day. It stayed cloudy a good part of the day, but the ceiling lifted so that we were a go for launches,

We actually started the day by locating a rocket we had all searched for numerous times yesterday to no avail. We decided to make a pass by the tank in the back, and there it was just waiting to be found. This made five finds for us for Thursday’s rockets. Today was a different story though. None of the rockets were in our area, and though we did search for several, we ended the day with two nose cones, and then we helped Team Five recover one we had walked right past earlier and they had gone back and found.

The Recovery Teams were all having a great time. We do get a little competitive and do all love to find the rocket first, but at the same time we all search well together. Recovery is the name of the game, and finding and returning those rockets to the students is the main objective. We have a really awesome group of recovery volunteers, and we really enjoy working with each one of them. They are a fun group. Of course, the whole SystemsGo organization is like this, they all work hard, and have fun while they are accomplishing the goal of the weekend.

Mission Control launched 21 rockets today and only had 2 others that didn’t pass to the final stage to launch. Recovery located and returned all but two back to the students, and those are still being sought after.

Mid way through the day, the clouds burned off and rewarded us with a bright blue sky to continue launching. The schools involved in today’s launches included: Fabens High School, RL Turner High School, Marble Falls High School, Akins High School, Maypearl High School, North Lamar High School, Tom Moore High School, and University High School. Once again I want to extend congratulations to each of these schools and their students for a successful program in making it here with their vehicle, and a successful launch.

Tomorrow, Saturday May 16, there are 20 more launches scheduled. Following is the launch schedule which can also be downloaded and the SystemsGo website, which is www.systemsgo.org .

Saturday, May 16, 2015
School Name	# 1st Level Tsiolkovsky	# 2nd Level Oberth
Alamo Heights High School Colin Lang		3
Fort Stockton High School (Midland) Jim Hatcher	5
Henrietta High School Doug Underwood	1	1
McGregor High School Chris Kuhl	2
Northwest High School Ashley Mitias	4	2
Union Grove High School Greg Park	1	1
6
Schools Launching
Totals	13	7
May 16^th Total Rockets	20

Tomorrow is a very special day in our family in that our other wonderful daughter, Kasey Burow, turns 20. She is in the Navy, stationed in Norfolk, VA. She was also a STEM student and built and launched rockets here in Willow City as well with her classmates. She is now an Avionics Structural Mechanic, working on Sea Dragon Helicopters. She is planning to take courses through Embry Riddle University to pursue an Engineering Degree as well. We are so extremely proud of her and all she is doing. I hope you have a Happy Birthday tomorrow Kasey. We all love you. Don’t worry you will hear about it again tomorrow as well, I would never let you off the hook this easy on your birthday.

Look for more pictures from today’s launch on Facebook and be sure to come back for more high lights. Have a wonderful evening.

www.systemsgo.org as always is the place for more information on this program. Take the time to get your school involved, the future of your students will be greatly benefited.

Day 8- Fredericksburg Rocket Launches Day 1, Keys and Batteries

What a crazy yet awesome day. It started off with a bang, and that was before any of the rockets were ignited. We all got off to a bit of a late start getting away from the house this morning, and as things would be naturally, if you are already running behind, the universe, has its own sense of humor, and says, “let’s see just how behind we can get them.” Steve had left the house earlier to get breakfast tacos for all of us, and as we, being Chelsea and Guy in Guy’s truck and me, in my truck, had finally left the house and made it as far as Kneese Road, my phone rings, and it’s Steve. He informed me that he had discovered that he did not have the keys to the mules, and I would have to go back for them. So I head back and find them, after I do and take off again, my switch on my messed AC system decides to turn to heat, a little Chevy glitch, and the only way to get the heat to stop is to turn the car off and back on. I was about 3/10 of a mile from my house when I stopped to fix this, with only one problem, the car turned off, but not back on. It was at this time that my battery that we thought might be getting a little weak, decided to die. That is right, I am now dead in the water. I call Steve to inform him and luckily he is still in town so he now has to return to get me. I grab all my stuff out of my truck and schlep it as far as my parents’ house where I wait for Steve. Now instead of getting to Willow City by 7:30, it’s more like 8:30.

Some of you might remember that we just replaced the battery in my son, Brett’s truck yesterday. We are now two batteries in two days. Batteries are not cheap!

Luckily, because the day started off cloudy with a low ceiling, we were in a holding pattern for the launches. In fact I believe it was around 11:30 before we actually started sending them up. We may have started cloudy and misty, but we ended up with a beautiful day to launch, although it was a bit hot and muggy at times in some of those dense pasture areas during recovery.

SystemsGo did an amazing job today getting all 19 rockets up. What a great crew and organization they have to make all this happen. Congratulations to all the schools that participated today as well. Every vehicle left the pad and about 15 out of 19 were recovered. The schools there today included Roosevelt High School, New Dianna High School, Kingwood High School, Kingwood Park High School, Union Grove High School, Hamilton High School, Hollenstein High School, Big Spring Charter School, and Fredericksburg High School. Great job to all you students, and getting here and having a successful launch,

The first day out of four, and I really don’t think it could have been much better. Everything seemed to run fairly smoothly, all the crews worked well together, and I believe most if not all of us involved had a great time. I know Mr. Williams was a little concerned that it was only the first day, and some seemed to be having too much fun and goofiness right from the start. We won’t mention any names, but you know who you are. That’s what makes it fun and keeps it interesting though.

Tomorrow, Friday, the schedule shows 8 school launching a total of 22 rockets. The list is posted below for those who would like to see.

Friday, May 15, 2015
School Name	# 1st Level Tsiolkovsky	# 2nd Level Oberth
Akins High School John Sayce	5
Fabens High School Manuel Moreno	2	1
Marble Falls High School Randy Guffey	1
Maypearl High School Rebekah Hyatt	2
North Lamar High School Kathy Stewart	1
RL Turner High School (Carrollton) Karl Gscheidle	2	2
Tom Moore (Ingram) High School David Bunch	2
University High School Dennis Oubre	2	2
8
Schools Launching
Totals	17	5
May 15^th Total Rockets	22

Good luck to all of tomorrow’s schools, and safe travels both here and home. I know it will be another wonderful day. I just have to remember to put on the sunscreen tomorrow because I got a little toasted today. So if you see me, remind me. That is how I will know who reads this blog!!!!Well I captured so many cool pictures of workers, students and rockets today, but at the end of the day, nature’s beauty won out by giving us a glorious sunset over the launch site, so that’s my featured picture for this blog. I think I might show some of the high lights on my face book so keep an eye out there as well. Good night all, see you at the launch site in the morning. Once again here is the place to go for information on the launches and the Livestream Link.www.systemsgo.org

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