Friday, Day 2, the final day for North Texas Rockets 2024 launch series was mission complete by this afternoon, by with all rockets launched by 5:35p.m. Seventeen rockets from six different schools left the rails today. These schools included University HS, RL Turner HS, Petrolia HS, Northstar HS, and two hold overs from yesterday, one each from Hollenstein HS, and Carroll HS.
Weather for Friday was mostly cloudy for most of the day, but with a high ceiling. A threat of severe storms loomed in the area through the day. The winds were high, but only a small amount of drizzle crossed our range. Reports of large tornadoes, hail and heavy rain in the Wichita Falls, Munday and Electra areas were in late afternoon to early evening.
First launches blasted off shortly after 11:25 this morning. After the first volley, the pad kept the rockets flying in a fairly continuous set each time the rails were full so that they could send all vehicles skyward before the storms could shut down flights.
Out of 17 rockets launched, only 3 were recoverable, most chose to disappear without a trace. The flights were beautiful, and most opened and came down under chute. The unfortunate aspect was that the high winds kept them flying high for too long and then dropping in the distance in waste high grass. This made for very difficult recovery. There were only two teams today. We worked grids in the areas the rockets were last seen but unfortunately came up empty more often than not this year. It was very frustrating for the teams as we like to find them and bring them back to the students as much as the students like to get them back. It just means there will be a lot of old rockets that may be found in up coming years. Unless of course the land owners locate them and return them to SystemsGo first.
The final rocket was launched at 5:35.After which the Team tore down the whole site and packed away in the new cargo trailer for NTX until next year. Unfortunately, this process took until right at 10:00pm. and then we all headed back to Jacksboro to JR’s Chop House B & B and the Butterfield Inn to crash for the night. Except me, I did not crash yet. I am still writing this article and will still post pictures to Facebook when I am done with this.
In the morning the crew will meat for breakfast at 8:00am and then head home to prepare for the next sequence at the Central Texas/Stonewall launches this coming week, May 2nd through the 4th. A contingency day is built into Sunday, May 5th if needed.
Just an FYI, our live feed media expert, Phil Houseal, fell ill on us this weekend and had to leave the site. Therefore if you were trying to watch the Livefeed on Saturday you might have noticed it was not to be found. We are sorry for the inconvenience. We hope to have things up and running again by this coming weekend’s launch, as well as he is recovered.
It has been a really long day, and traveling makes me tired so I best get my pictures posted so that I can get some sleep. Much needed sleep. The rest of the SystemsGo team is alreay fast asleep. It is well deserved. They all worked really hard to make this a great event for the students and they will do it again soon, twice more.
Pictures are from today are on SystemsGo Facebook page, as well as my Facebook page. They can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/SystemsGoEducation/
https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow
North Texas was the second launch in the 2024 series, and is followed by launches in Central Texas/Stonewall and Southeast Texas/Smith Point.
The launch dates, locations, and schools are always listed for your convenience at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .
A live feed for each launch will be provided and will be available at www.systemsgo.org as each launch date arrives.
More event details will be available here in upcoming days as events get closer. Daily reports featuring schedule links, school names, results, pictures and some editorial content will be posted during the events if information is available.
Please watch the SystemsGo website, SystemsGo Facebook page, SystemsGo Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/SystemsGoNews and this blog for upcoming information on theses 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!
#RidetheSkies, #EyesontheSkies #ItisRocketscience #SystemsGoRocketTrail #TexasRocketTrail#Rockets2024
On the Wings of Angels 