Livestream – Page 10 – On the Wings of Angels

Rockets 2018 Begins at Jal, New Mexico This Weekend!!!

Rockets 2018 begins this season’s launch series in Jal, New Mexico this Saturday, April 21, 2018 at a launch site on Phillips Hill Road.New Mexico High schools from Jal, Hobbs, Loving, Lovington, Hagerman and Lake Arthur, along with one Texas school, New Tech Odessa will have students participating in the program with 18 rockets scheduled to test. New Tech Odessa is joining the group in Jal this year, as it is much closer for them than any of the Texas sites they have gone to previously.

This is the second year for the SystemsGo New Mexico group, headed up by David Willden. After training in 2016 at the Fredericksburg launches in Willow City, the group began their launches at the new site in April of 2017 with 10 Tsiolkovsky Level (1 lb/ 1 mile) vehicles. This year, they will attempt 14 Tsiolkovsky Level and 4 Oberth Level (Transonic velocity while staying under 13000′) vehicles.

Friday, starting at 8:30 a.m. there is training for Range Safety Officers (RSO’s) for stage 2 and stage 3 volunteers. This is to train and build the volunteer base for the New Mexico events. Jal Elementary will also be set up for Stage 1 and Stage 2 as Early Check in begins at 1:00 p.m. on Friday and continues until 5:00 p.m.

Friday evening, Dave Willden is hosting a cook-out for volunteers, teachers, teams and admin at the Jal Country Club from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Burgers and hot dogs will be served.

Scott Netherland, Rebekah Hyatt, and Gene Garrett from SystemsGo Texas are leaving at noon Thursday, headed to Jal to participate in the event. Chelsea Burow, also SystemsGo Texas will be meeting them there on Friday evening.

This site will be open to public viewing of launches, as are all sites except White Sands Missile Range. A link to location information and a map link are available at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ . The site will be open for admittance at 8:00 a.m. and launches will commence presumably at 8:30 a.m. Of course rockets are subject to winds, weather and workmanship, all of which can stall a launch. Come join in the action and cheer on these students. Admission is free, but the look on your students’ faces when their vehicle goes up and then is recovered, is far from priceless.

If you plan to attend Jal or any of this year’s launches please register for your attendance ticket at https://www.greateventseats.com/SystemsGo or they may be obtained at the gate. These are free but required for admittance to each site as they also include a waiver for access to the 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.

The schedule of launches for Jal is available at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ . I will post it here for launch day. I want it to be as accurate as possible so I will refrain from posting it now in case there are any late changes.

A live feed for Saturday’s launches has not been confirmed yet, but I believe something may be in the works for that option. Information about the event, map links and schedule links are available at http://www.bringonthescience.com

Here is a reproduction of the map, but the one you will find online will be much clearer.

SystemsGo New Mexico does have a twitter feed they started last year in order to follow the launches. This link is still live, but right now there are no current tweets. That link is https://twitter.com/SystemsGoNM

Please watch the SystemsGo website, SystemsGo Facebook page, SystemsGo Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/SystemsGoNews and this blog for upcoming information on theses events.

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 two more launches in April and May. Next the Stewart Ranch in Willow City, Texas will host the largest of the now three launch events on the weekend of April 26-28, 2018. 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.

The second 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.

The senior 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 launches!

Fredericksburg’s Engineering Rocket Program-Second Term Update #2 (February 16-April 13)

It is April and we have some catching up to do on the FHS Engineering program. It has been two months since our last update and quite a bit has been happening on all levels. Along with class work, launches start this month in Jal, New Mexico on April 21 and Fredericksburg (Willow City) April 26-28 so time is becoming a factor for the Junior and senior groups. Each group is working hard to meet their timelines. Rockets 2018 is the pinnacle event for the upper level groups, as their rocket projects are basically the final grade for the year.

The seniors have approximately 73 days until Redbird 19 is TENTATIVELY scheduled for testing at White Sands Missile Range, which is usually in the last week of June. This date is still not a permanent date until the Army finalizes, closer to that time. Mr. Matthes will announce that date when it becomes readily available. Their completion date for preliminary systems tests is usually two weeks before school ends. This would be May 18 which cuts them down to 59 days.

More on these groups and their current status reports will be later in the article.

Freshman participated in a field trip on March 1st, in which they visited Southwest Research Institute(SwRI), the Center for the Intrepid, and the UTSA VIZlab. At the Center for the Intrepid, the students were able to see biomedical equipment at work helping wounded Veterans in their recovery. Along with the engineering aspect of this, Mr. Matthes hoped that they took away a new respect for our military servicemen and women and the full extent of the sacrifices they make each day for our country’s safety.

Former FHS Engineering Alumni, Drake Horstman, was the students’ guide when they visited the UTSA VIZlab, toured the campus, engineering lab and community areas. During the visit, Drake, provided entertainment and wisdom coupled with numerous stories about his experiences in the FHS Engineering Program. Inside the lab, the students were able to see several visual interaction devices.

At Southwest Research Institute, students learned technical information about engines, modifications and fuel efficiency. The content here was a little over their knowledge base, and may have overwhelmed the students a little, according to Mr. Matthes. In spite of that, it was still a good visit for the students, and the coordinator at SwRI commented about their behavior stating, “they are better than a lot of the college students who come through.”

These visits are designed to expose the students to different aspects in the engineering fields. The impressions they take from here will help them make decisions down the road on whether engineering is for them, and if so, help them determine a particular area of interest.

The Freshmen also participated in their first Critical Design Review (CDR). They were tasked with presenting solutions to fix the damaged launch tower for the Red Bird rockets. This gives them practice on presentation skills and feedback on designs for their project.

Mr. Matthes stated that, “the students may have felt “roasted” with constructive criticism and feedback. But, that they should know, that it is part of improvement and growth of design and not personal.” He mentioned that this was also discussed briefly at the end of the trip to SwRI, by the hosting engineer.

The sophomores have advanced well in the curriculum and are presently several weeks ahead of their current deadlines. Their current focus is on dimensioning objects, denoting measurements and creating fabrication notes. Due to this, their proficiency has advanced well.

Mr. Matthes is quite impressed with the Juniors selection of a class name. Here is how he describes it,”The juniors named their class “Conatus” which translates from Latin, to impulse and means striving. From a historical philosophy origin it relates to the nature of something to continue its existence.”

The pressure is on with an April 19th rocket completion date looming ever closer. The rocket must be completed one week prior to their April 26^th launch, because after it is completed they must also complete a Flight Readiness Review which often uncovers errors and problems that must be resolved. This week provides adequate time for those things to happen.

According to Mr. Matthes neither team has anything that quite resembles a rocket as of yet, but each is working through a pile of parts that arrived. Most were not ordered until the end of March which was quite late, but each group began working with tangible parts the end of last week.

Team #2 decided to make use of Monday’s teacher in-service day, by putting in about four hours of work. Shown below from team #2 are clockwise starting from the bottom, Cooper McDonald, Gloria Burns, Ethan Scott, and Dawson Harkins as they take measurements off the back-end of the rocket and motor system.

Both teams do have a work in progress at this point. According to Mr. Matthes, “Pressure makes diamonds and rockets.”

Incidentally, another incentive for each comes from SystemsGo. A flawless flight and perfect recovery may afford that team the chance to re-fly their vehicle with a different fuel grain in order to collect data for SystemsGo.

The miniature Teststand is an ongoing project for the juniors as well. They are using LabVIEW programming as a means to start ignition and measure thrust, as well as using 3D modeling in order to develop a unique physical Teststand model. The class is split into working groups of 3. According to Mr. Matthes, “They are on track to have this done by the end of school and I am excited to see what they come up with.”

Seniors are progressing well with Redbird 19, wind tunnel and the large Teststand development.

Construction is beginning on Redbird 19 now that parts are returning from Heartland Enterprises. According to Mr. Matthes the parts, “look beautiful, and most parts are in.” Now that parts are available there is a bullet list of accomplishments to be achieved including, overlaying the nose cone in fiberglass, creating a mold and then pouring the fuel grain, making a custom hose for the injection valve, testing recovery chute deployment, integrating avionics into the vehicle, and Mr. Jenkins is in the process of manufacturing the payload.

Here Harrison Spisak, Bryce Erwin, and Sergio Walle are checking the fit of the injector, nozzle and retaining ring in their fuel grain liner.

Currently wind tunnel is well underway, as students are receiving and ordering parts. The program is nearing completion and the electronics used for the drag testing measurement has arrived. Hunter Smith, a SpaceX programmer at the McGregor facility has been assisting Rebecca Sechrist through a Skype session. He has been providing analysis and comprehension in areas he has already assisted, as well as a starting point from which to move ahead. According to Mr. Matthes, “The students are making headway but must begin to make a push in order to finish this outstanding design by summer.”

Deadlines are quickly evolving for Teststand, as the group’s progress here is steady but slow. They have installed a flow meter to directly measure Nitrous oxide. Load cells which measure thrust have been changed out and fuel grains have also been readied for testing.

The stand itself is nearing a test ready state. New to this year’s stand are changes in the injection system. The new system will allow more controls of the flow. A parent plate has been designed by students and fabricated by another local machine shop, Kager Industries, which will hold a smaller injection disc allowing students the ability to change out the disc which controls the rate of flow. The plate can be installed as soon as the 0.05″ holes have been drilled through. Next, the LabVIEW program will be fully tested on the stand. Afterwards, a cold flow test will be conducted in order to measure the oxidizer flow rate and determine if the size and pattern of holes in the new disc are correct. If the cold flow tests are successful, then hot fire tests can begin.

The Baby Bird Teststand is still on hold until further notice.

SystemsGo hosted a BBQ dinner event for the neighbors in Willow City. Seniors, Bryce Erwin and Sergio Walle, pictured below, spoke at the event. Their purpose was to educate attendees about the educational process of the program and how it relates to the upcoming launches, as well as to share their own experiences in the program.

Additionally, Harrison Spisak and Corbin Smajstrala spoke to the Morning Rotary last month on similar subjects.

Mr. Matthes would personally like to thank all four of these young men for committing to these events and participating in them. In both cases, participants and SystmesGo staff commended them on their exceptional performances.

This article is the fourth for the 2017/2018 school year in a series of periodic 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.

Rockets 2017-Saturday Report-Williams Retirement- Sunday Schedule

Saturday was another great day of launches. Let’s see who is paying attention, we had 21 rockets on the schedule and we launched 23. The answer is later in the story. After storms came through the area over night and early this morning, causing a two-hour rain delay, rockets finally started flying around lunch time. The sky finally opened a window of opportunity.

Even though launches started late, Stages 1 and 2 continued on schedule. This meant that when weather finally permitted launching, the spectator tent where rockets wait to go down to Stage 3, was full with more waiting than I have ever seen there.

This evening after launches were completed for the schools, two more rockets were sent up as a tribute to retired FHS STEM teacher and SystemsGo founder Brett Williams. They were both recovered in short order and taken to the Willow City Fire House where a dinner was hosted in his honor. He developed the program that all these schools use to teach the STEM curriculum across Texas and now New Mexico as well.

Several people gave a tribute address honoring and telling stories about Mr. Williams, including Scott Netherland, Andrew Matthes, Rebekah Hyatt, Dave Cambell, and Tom Moser.

Tom is a retired NASA rocket program member who became involved with the program. He served NASA as Deputy Associate Administrator for space station and space flight. These were just one of his many duties at NASA. Tom is one on a list of many influential people who Brett recruited to support the program over the years. After his address, he presented Brett with a NASA Citation for his work and contribution to the STEM program and student education.

Below is the launch schedule for today, Sunday. There are 5 schools launching a total of 16 rockets.

Sunday, May 21, 2017
School Name	# 1st Level Tsiolkovsky	# 2nd Level Oberth
Alamo Heights High School Colin Lang		3
Hardin-Jefferson High School Mike Fogo	3	1
Manor High School Will Davis	3
New Tech Odessa Richard Linder	1	1
Roosevelt High School Jared Warsing	3	1


5
Schools Launching
Totals	11	7
May 15^th Total Rockets	18

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

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1479031692117957.1073741890.100000334203350&type=3&pnref=story

Here is the second album link to the pictures from Brett William’s party.

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1479469515407508.1073741891.100000334203350&type=3&uploaded=36

Good luck to all the schools launching on Sunday. I will update the blog after we complete our day again tomorrow. Here is the link to the live stream again.

http://livestream.com/systemsgo

Please remember that 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. That link can be found at SystemsGo Events page. 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.

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.

#SystemsGo #Rockets2017 #FredericksburgSTEMAcademy #Launcher01 #SystemsGoNewMexico

Rockets 2017-Friday Day 2 Report and Saturday Schedule

Friday had another slow start for rockets. The ceiling was a low again. SystemsGo was able to load 24 out of 25 rockets listed on the schedule onto the rails and launched all 24.The 25th was an abort by one of the schools.

Here are a few of those smiling faces taking their rockets down to the pad.

The north end of the range seemed to be the prime spot for landings today, which kept recovery in that area fairly busy. Unfortunately that left those of us on the south end a little bored so we went to help our northern friends quite often. So then how many recovery teams does it take to find one rocket?

As is normal, Transonics amassed most of those still missing in the field. They also made up the bulk of the final ones shot due to waiting on that cloud ceiling to clear. Coordinates for those have been generated, and the search is ongoing.

David Willden and the group from New Mexico helped out until around noon when they had to launch themselves back towards home. There help was greatly appreciated, and for them it was also further training for next year’s second launch series in Jal.

Phil Houseal was busy interviewing spectators, students and volunteers today. He even managed to catch me and coerce me into another interview this year. We seem to have a continued game between us. We both prefer to be behind the camera instead of in the pictures, so I make sure to catch him and get him in the pictures I post, and he catches me and makes me talk on camera.

Tomorrow is another big day on the range, with a full docket of rockets and extra curricular activities after launches are done as well. It will be a busy and long day. It should be fun though. Hopefully the cloud ceiling will open up earlier so we can start those rockets in a more continuous pattern. And the rain can hold off until after dark and all will be good.

Below is the launch schedule for tomorrow, Saturday. There are 7 schools launching a total of 22 rockets tomorrow.

Saturday, May 20, 2017
School Name	# 1st Level Tsiolkovsky	# 2nd Level Oberth
Akins High School Joyce Sayce	5
Fabens High School Manny Moreno	3	2
Henrietta High School Doug Underwood	2	1
Maypearl High School James Herrod	1
McGregor High School Chris Kuhl	1	1
North Lamar High School Kathy Stewart	1
Northwest High School Elizabeth Mitias	4	1
7
Schools Launching
Totals	17	5
May 14^th Total Rockets	22

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

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1477962108891582.1073741889.100000334203350&type=3&uploaded=221

Good luck to all the schools launching on Saturday. I will update the blog after we complete our day again tomorrow. Here is the link to the live stream again.

http://livestream.com/systemsgo

Please remember that 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.

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

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.

#SystemsGo #Rockets2017 #FredericksburgSTEMAcademy #Launcher01 #SystemsGoNewMexico

Fredericksburg Rockets 2017-Thursday Day 1 Report – Friday Schedule

Thursday went well. It started off a little slow due to clouds and a low ceiling. Fortunately, it burned off in the afternoon and launches started lining up with only intermittent delays. it was basically a warm, humid, and windy day, but turned out well in the end for rockets. Recovery went fairly well with only a few Transonics still in the field at the end of the day. Hopefully they will still be recovered before the end of the weekend.

Original Fredericksburg High School STEM teacher and SystemsGo originator and program developer was on site today. He visited with folks, observed how things were working and even worked the Pad until around lunch. It was a nice treat having him on site a while again. He even said he might drop by again before the weekend is over.

We also had working guests from the new SystemsGo New Mexico. Director David Willden was helping a mission control as well as one recovery team that was from his group too. #SystemsGoNewMexico

The original schedule listed 22 rockets, but the final total launched was 19.

Below is the launch schedule for tomorrow, Friday. There are 7 schools launching a total of 25 rockets tomorrow.

Friday, May 19, 2017
School Name	# 1st Level Tsiolkovsky	# 2nd Level Oberth
Buinger CTE Academy Michael Skrzynski	2	3
Hamilton High School Seaborn Achby	1	1
Marble Falls High School Leslie Alexander	2	1
RL Turner High School Bill Richardson	2
Tom Moore (Ingram) High School David Bunch	4
Union Grove High School Greg Park	2	1
University High School Dennis Oubre	4	2
7
Schools Launching
Totals	17	8
May 13^th Total Rockets	25

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

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1476991132322013.1073741888.100000334203350&type=3&uploaded=143

Good luck to all the schools launching on Friday. 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/systemsgo

Please remember that 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 registration 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. These tickets are FREE. They can be found on the SystemsGo Events page. Look for the little ticket icon that says, “Admit One”.

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.

#SystemsGo #Rockets2017 #FredericksburgSTEMAcademy #Launcher01 #SystemsGoNewMexico

Rockets 2017-Houston, Done-Fredericksburg Launches Start Tomorrow in Willow City-Thursday Schedule Included

The SystemsGo team arrived home around 11:00 Sunday night from the Houston Rockets 2017 launches. They had a good event with over with 39 rockets tested at the new location in Smith Point, south of Anahuac. They transitioned to Willow City on Monday as launches begin there tomorrow, Thursday for Fredericksburg Rockets 2017.

Set up and preparations have been underway all week to insure a great event at Hillview Ranch again this year.

The schedule boasts 26 schools and 87 rockets for this year’s event.

Launches will be Thursday through Sunday between 8:30 and 5:30. Phil Houseal will be there providing Livestream from the site again this year so friends and family can watch the action online if they cannot be at the event. Joyce BK Abbey the voice of rockets will be keeping us informed and up to date throughout each day.

As in past years, Texas Concessions will be providing food, snacks, and refreshments. Restrooms will be available on site.

There are chances of rain all weekend, as well as sun and wind so be prepared for either while you are in attendance. 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/events.php They are FREE, but REQUIRED.

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

A map to the site is on the SystemsGo website at the following link:

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

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

Pictures will be available here in this blog and in Facebook albums for you to view at the end of each days launches, as well as during the day from Phil and SystemsGo 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 tomorrow.It boasts 7 schools and 22 rockets:

Thursday, May 18, 2017
School Name	# 1st Level Tsiolkovsky	# 2nd Level Oberth
Birdville CTAL Lynn Barrett	5	2
Fredericksburg High School Andrew Matthes		2
Granger High School Chaston Kubacak	1
Harleton HS Karen Brasher	1	1
Hollenstein Career & Tech Center Richard Griffith		2
Kingwood High School Louis Mascolo	5	1
New Diana High School Shawn Warden	1	1
7
Schools Launching
Totals	13	9
May 12^th Total Rockets	22

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

Good luck to all the schools and students.

Event details will be available here each day as the event unfolds in Willow City at Hillview Ranch. Reports featuring schedules, school names, results, pictures, and some editorial content will also be posted at the end of day. If I get a chance to do some updates during the event each day, then I will but don’t count on it. I work recovery so I am usually busy.

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.

#Rockets2017 #SystemsGo #Launcher01 #FredericksburgSTEMAcademy

Sunday, Day 3 and The Last Day of Houston Rockets 2017-Recap

Today, Sunday, was the last day of launches at the Smith Point site for the SystemsGo team. They had two more schools, Northstar High School and Booker T Washington High School and five more rockets on the original schedule.

This made for another long day on the range, or at least longer than originally anticipated, but it allowed all the students’ hard work their chance to fly. They were up and out on the range early enough to watch the sunrise while they waited for rockets to load on rails, as seen here.

The team finally finished packing up and were highway bound headed back to Fredericksburg at about 4:45 this evening.

One of the highlights of the day was from Northstar High School. A guitar playing, singing, rocket engineer, Mr. Ian Barthlolmee, sat down with Phil and gave the live stream audience a small concert while they waited for his team’s rocket to get clearance down at the pad. What an enjoyable treat for folks there and online. You just never know who you will find in this rocket science business. Thank you for the musical treat Ian.

Here are a few shots of the action from the day.

Here is Ian’s team cheering their launch.

These were provided by pad team member, Chelsea Burow. Seen here with the Sunday Pad Team.

She also provided the sunrise, and the lead image for the article tonight, as well as some in the Facebook album mentioned below.

And this one is of the final rocket team of the day, Booker T Washington’s Transonic:

Thank you, Chelsea.

Along with the ones Chelsea shared, here is a link for some really nice ones from today from David Brady, from NASA. He and his daughter, Erika, helped at the pad today. This is their second year to be a part of the action down in Houston. These are some really good pictures, be sure to check out the link.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m5wgwe636vpqilg/AADj-yt145Wm1ppMqRNsHrKma?dl=0

More pictures will be in two Facebook albums for you to view at:

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1472882699399523&type=3&pnref=story These are from Chelsea and myself.

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1472979219389871.1073741887.100000334203350&type=3&pnref=story Note, these are also the pictures by David Brady.

Event details will be available here each day of next week’s event in Willow City at Stewart Ranch. 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.

Saturday, Day 2 For Houston Rockets 2017-Recap and Sunday’s Schedule

Today, Saturday, the SystemsGo team had seven schools and twenty rockets to launch on this, their normal full day of launching at the Houston location. It was a productive day, albeit a long and tiring day for the team at the range. The action finally ended and the Livestream shut down about 9:15 this evening.

Weather at the site was sunny with only slight clouds and some wind. Reports from recovery members say it was a beautiful day for launching rockets.

Phil and Rebekah had a very special guest at Mission Control today. Norman Chaffee, retired Deputy Director of NASA Johnson Space Center, was there.He consults with some of the schools in the area on their rockets and STEM programs. In the interview today, he remembered coming to Fredericksburg in the early days of these launches to consult with Brett Williams, program founder, on safety and logistics. It was a genuinely interesting interview as he recounted all his work history through the years with the space program, all the way to where he is now retired and helping young high school students learn.

Later in the day, Phil took time to talk to Christy Bible Glass about her history and how she came to work for SystemsGo. Unfortunately I didn’t get to hear much of hers because my system crashed on my phone and computer about that time, which is why the quality of her picture is so bad, and she appears to have a monocle over one of her glasses. Sorry about that Christy, maybe you can say you were practicing for the upcoming Pirates movie. “Arrgh!”

What I was able to hear and see was a really nice and interesting interview.

In spite of issues on my part, the team still had a great day on the range. Here are a few of the better screen grabs I managed to get today.

The rest of today’s screen shots will be posted on Facebook at the following address for public sharing:

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1471968966157563&type=3

The link below is screen shots from yesterday’s action at the range. Chelsea Burow, pad operator, may add more to either of these albums later. I know she took some really nice pictures from the pad.

https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1471692176185242.100000334203350&type=3&uploaded=36

Apparently students, teachers, parents and other humans were not the only spectators watching the rockets. This fellow was sent in by recovery team member, Steve Burrow.

The current launch schedule for Sunday is shown below and may also be downloaded from SystemsGo website at the following address: http://www.systemsgo.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Flight-Schedule-Rockets-2017-Houston-4-4-17-.2.pdf

Sunday, May 22, 2016
School Name	# 1st Level Tsiolkovsky	# 2nd Level Oberth
Booker T. Washington HS Dr. Nghia Le	1	1
Northstar High School Alan Stone	2	1

Schools Launching 2
Totals	3	2
May 22^nd Total Rockets	5

Public access is available at this new site this year. A map to the location as well as directions are available at the SystemsGo Events page found here:

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

There will also be Livestream from there again this year so friends and family can watch the action online, provided by Phil Houseal and Zach Pooser .

http://livestream.com/systemsgo

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.

Please remember that since there is pubic access to this event this year, there are tickets for order and those may be found on the SystemsGo website as well at this link: https://www.greateventseats.com/events.php?lID=92

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.

SystemsGo Team Travels to Smith Point for an Early Start to Houston Rockets 2017-Friday’s Launch Schedule Included

The StsytemsGo team left today, Thursday, headed to Smith Point, near Anahuac, Texas down near Houston. This is a new location for this year. They arrived there early today, setting up the launch site, and readying everything for an early start, as launches begin Friday afternoon. This is new for this year.

Launches will continue all day Saturday, and half a day on Sunday with 17 schools launching a total of 39 vehicles.

The current launch schedule for Friday is shown below and may also be downloaded from SystemsGo website at the following address: http://www.systemsgo.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Flight-Schedule-Rockets-2017-Houston-4-4-17-.2.pdf

Friday, May 12, 2017
School Name	# 1st Level Tsiolkovsky	# 2nd Level Oberth
Anahuac High School Kirk Moore	1	1
Dickinson High School Sara Malloy	1
Eisenhower High School Jacob Arriaga	1
Pasadena Memorial High School Katherin Melton	1
Pasadena Memorial High School Kyle Jurek	1
South Houston High School Kevin Herron	4
Victoria East High School Adam Wertman	2
Victoria West High School Cheryl Clark	1

Schools Launching 8
Totals	12	1
May 21^st Total Rockets	13

This new launch site, will allow public access this year. A map to the location as well as directions are available at the SystemsGo Events page found here:

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

Phil Houseal and Zach Pooser will be on site providing the Livestream up-link again this year so friends and family can watch the action online. Here is the link to the live stream for the Houston launches.

http://livestream.com/systemsgo

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 action and see what these students are accomplishing as they apply all they have learned in class, 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.

Just a note, the tickets are free of charge but are required for entrance. They are available on site at the gate as well but the preferred method is online at the link above.

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.

SystemsGoNM Makes History Thursday at the New Discovery Education Launch Site

A new milestone in STEM education and history begins Thursday as six schools new to the SystemsGo program for this year attempt to launch 10 rockets carrying a one pound payload to an altitude of one mile into the sky. Students from Jal High School, Hobbs High School, Lake Arthur High School, Loving High School, Carlsbad High School, and Lovington High School are the first in New Mexico to attempt a successful test of these student researched, designed, engineered and constructed vehicles under the direction of the SystemsGo STEM Education program.

David Willden, SystemsGoNM coordinator along with his team and members from SystemsGo Texas spent yesterday morning instructing Range Safety Officers (RSO’s) in proper operating safety for tomorrow’s launches. Other preparations have been ongoing during the prior week to ensure readiness and success of the new launch facility and especially tomorrow’s student vehicle tests.

The new Discovery Education Launch Pad during Wednesday’s preparations.

Stage 1 and Stage 2 checks were also in progress today and will be completed tomorrow for any schools not able to attend today. Jal High School will be the first to launch tomorrow because they were the first successful team through Stage 1 and 2 checks.

Here Jal High School students move through Stage 1 and 2 vehicle readiness checks. More photos from today’s activities are available here: https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow . All today’s photos are courtesy of Rebekah Hyatt, SystemsGo.

New Mexico legislative members, NASA and White Sands Missile Range(WSMR) personnel as well as many other dignitaries and sponsors were part of a reception held today to celebrate SystemsGoNM inaugural launch tomorrow.

Stage 1 and 2 reopen for continued checks at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow, with the check in for spectators at the launch site beginning at 8:00 a.m. Local sponsors and vendors are providing concessions and restrooms at the site.

Flight possibilities will be optimal tomorrow morning as the weather service is predicting the probability of 50 mph winds tomorrow afternoon. This could prevent any further launch attempts. Students please be early, and prepared with your vehicle in order to keep launches as prompt and continuous as possible.

The schedule/list for tomorrow’s launches is below. This is the schedule as printed on SystemsGo‘s website, but it will be amended as needed as to order, depending on when each team passes Stage 1 and 2 checks and arrives at Mission Control with their vehicle. Note above, that Jal has already moved into the first spot, different than listed here.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

School Name, Teacher 1/1

Carlsbad High School 1 Deb Haggerton
Hobbs High School 2 Shawna Carter
Jal High School 1 Nathan Richard
Lake Arthur High School 1 Steve Galuska
Loving High School 3 Albert Lopez
Lovington High School 2 Michael Dodson

# Schools Launching 6

# Total Rockets 10

A more formal schedule can also be downloaded at http://www.systemsgo.org/save-the-date-for-rockets-2017/ .

Here are map links for Jal Fire Department Map to Jal Fire Station, Jal, NM and Discovery Education Launch Site Map to Discovery Education Launch Pad, North of Jal, NM .

A live feed for Thursday’s launches will be available on the following Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/discoveryed and will also be linked to their science page at http://www.bringonthescience.com/ .

SystemsGo New Mexico also has a twitter feed you can join to keep up to date on what they are doing. That link is https://twitter.com/SystemsGoNM

SystemsGo New Mexico is headed up by David Willden.

Please watch the SystemsGo website, SystemsGo Facebook page, SystemsGo Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/SystemsGoNews and this blog for upcoming information on these events.

Late Thursday evening an after report will be posted here, featuring results, pictures and some editorial content cataloging the success of the event.

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.

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