Tag: Stonewall

ROCKETS 2021, Riding the Skies of Education and Fun!

SystemsGo Rockets 2021 is already in full swing. The group met, February 5, to line out details for the upcoming spring launches.  In attendance were SystemsGo team members, Rebekah Hyatt, Program Director; Scott Netherland, Executive Director;  Doug Kimbrell, Board President; Tara Kitchens, Executive Assistant; with  Phil Houseal, Communications Director; Kirk Moore, Regional Director for Southeast Texas;  and Doug Underwood, Regional Director for North Texas joining on video. Also in attendance were volunteers, Steve Burow and Ginger Burow.

Necessities and logistics for all  Texas launch locations were discussed. Venues for lodging, and all needed equipment for each launch site were decided and individuals lined out, to secure them . Travel plans were also lined out. Bear in mind that due to COVID some things will be different. The following changes and requirements will be in place for spring launches:

1. There will not be onsite concessions. We will provide boxed lunches each day and of course water and sodas throughout the day for our volunteers. Schools are responsible for their own food.

2. We are not having spectator tents to reduce the opportunity for people to congregate. We are encouraging schools to bring their own shelter and chairs. We are asking that all participants practice social distancing.

3. Wristbands are required for all. We have limited participating teams to 3 students per team. (****This is correct at time of publication but may be changing with COVID restrictions lifting in some areas.) We have closed the event to any and all spectators. We must limit and control the number of people on site so we are requiring all to wear a wristband and will be monitoring that throughout the day.

4. Face coverings are required.

5. Temp checks – we will do temp checks each day upon arrival/check in at Stage 1.

6. We recommend that all volunteers over 65 be vaccinated. This is not mandatory, just suggested.

7. All toilet facilities will have disinfectant spray. We are asking that everyone use the spray before and after use. There will also be handwashing stations available.

All schools have been notified of this change. Questions and concerns may be directed to info@systemsgo.org.

Dates for all events except White Sands Missile Range are as follows:

  • New Mexico (Jal) — May 11-13th
  • North Texas (North of Mineral Well/Jack County) — April 22-23,  weather contingency day on the 24th
  • Central Texas (Stonewall) — April 29-May 1,  weather contingency day on May 2nd
  • Southeast Texas (Anahuac/Smith Point) — May 6-8,  weather contingency day May 9th
  • WSMR – TBD

Current schedules for launches show about 150 vehicles expected for launch at the spring launch sites.

Excitement is building and plans are under way. Stay tuned for more updates as events get closer. More changes may be announced as plans and arrangements are completely finalized. Rockets will #RideTheSkies in just over two weeks.  Welcome back to the Texas Rocket Trail, we will see you at lift off!

Event details will continue to be available here.

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 #texasrockettrail #Rockets2021

ROCKETS 2020 is Under Way!

SystemsGo Rockets 2020 is already in full swing. The group met, this past Friday, to line out details for the upcoming spring launches.  In attendance were SystemsGo team members, Rebekah Hyatt, Program Director; Scott Netherland, Executive Director; Gene Garrett, Board President; Doug Kimbrell, Board Vice President; Tara Kitchens, Executive Assistant;  Phil Houseal, Communications Director; with Kirk Moore, Regional Director for Southeast Texas;  and Doug Underwood, Regional Director for North Texas joining on video. Also in attendance were volunteers, George Burns, Jr., Steve Burow and Ginger Burow.

Necessities and logistics for all  Texas launch locations were discussed. Venues for lodging, and all needed equipment for each launch site were decided and individuals lined out to secure them . Travel plans were also lined out.

Dates for all events except White Sands Missile Range are as follows:

  • New Mexico (Jal) — April 21-22nd
  • North Texas (North of Mineral Well/Jack County) — April 24-25,  weather contingency day on the 26th
  • Central Texas (Stonewall) — April 30-May 1 & 2,  weather contingency day on May 3rd
  • Southeast Texas (Anahuac/Smith Point) — May 8, 9 &10,  weather contingency day May 11th

A note of importance for all schools this year is this change to launch equipment. The Closed Transonic Cage launch towers used in years past have been permanently retired. All rockets will be launched off the rail launch  towers. ALL rockets at ALL launch sites will need to be equipped with rail guides in order launch off these towers. Be sure all vehicles are properly equipped.  All schools have been notified of this change. Questions and concerns may be directed to info@systemsgo.org.

Current schedules for launches show a total of 189 vehicles expected for launch at the spring launch sites.

Excitement is building and plans are under way. Stay tuned for more updates as events get closer. More changes may be announced as plans and arrangements are completely finalized. Rockets will #RideTheSkies in about three months and this short piece is to put it back in mind so that all will be ready.

Event details will continue to be available here.

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 #texasrockettrail #Rockets2020

 

Rockets 2019 Central Texas/Stonewall Ended Today, With a Weather Makeup Day, Sunday

The Central Texas/Stonewall launch hit its final day in this series for the Rockets 2019 season, today. This day was not originally on the schedule but added due to inclement weather on Thursday and Friday to allow schools another launch option if they could not complete theirs due to the bad weather. Only one school, Georgetown High School chose this option. They had four rockets to test today. Three 1 pound/1 mile and 1 Transonic.

All four vehicles were tested and launched, 3 beautifully, and the fourth only made about fifty feet, before tumbling back down near the pad. Even so, all were tested and all recovered.

There was some added interest in this school for the Segner and Spies families, as they had a couple of relatives that recently began working for this school that joined the rocket group at the ranch to watch the launches.

Thanks so much to Sammy Segner, Troy, Jennifer, and Reed Spies, and Richard Koone for the use of their properties and for joining in the hunt for rockets as recovery teams. They made the weekend very enjoyable for everyone involved. It was a great first year at the new location and everyone is looking forward to being there again next season.

There were a total of 37 rockets tested by 19 schools at the new  Stonewall location for Rockets 2019. The recovery teams did a wonderful job of hunting them and returning them to the students. There were only 2 that were not recovered.

Thank is also in order for the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce for hosting Stage 1 and 2 at their building.

Pictures from the progress at the site to this weekend 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

If you follow this program and like to view the launches, Rockets 2019  will continue with one more launch next week, May 9-11, with a possible weather make up day again on Sunday. There are some weather predictions for next week that might necessitate using Sunday just as we did this week. The final launch of the junior level rockets will be held in Smith Point just south of Anahuac, Texas (the Southeast Texas/Smith Point launch) for schools in the Houston  and Southeast Texas area.

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. This will be the fifth launch sequence and will finalize the Rockets 2019 season.

The Smith Point site will be open to public viewing of launches as well. However, if you plan to attend any of these launches please register for your attendance ticket ahead of time or obtain them 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.

Come join in the action and cheer on these students too. Admission is free, but the look on your students’ faces when their vehicle goes up and then is recovered, is far from priceless.

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 #texasrockettrail #Rockets2019

 

 

 

Rockets 2019 Central Texas/Stonewall Saturday Launch Report

Today was the third day of launches at Stonewall for Central Texas Rockets 2019. It was a fantastic day as the team and volunteers launched 19 rockets today. Schools from Akins HS, Alamo Heights HS, Fredericksburg HS, Hamilton HS, Kingwood HS, Llano HS, Liberty Christian HS, London ISD HS, Marble Falls HS, and McGregor HS all had rockets tested today. About half of these were trailered rockets from Thursday. These schools were ready to go when the storm prevented further launches, so the vehicles were held until they could be launched and videoed on Livestream allowing the schools to watch their tests from home.

All 19 rockets were successfully tested today. All but one was successfully recovered today.  That makes only two rockets out of 33 tested over the past three days, still in the field to be found.

Mr. Brett Williams, the program’s creator dropped by with Joan Baker, former NASA dignitary that was instrumental in getting NASA involved in the program, forging a relationship that still stands today.  Unfortunately I was unable to get a picture of Ms. Baker. This visit was also a short reunion for Mr. Williams and a couple of the teachers from the early days that are still heavily involved in the program. The three are pictured below, left to right, Brett Williams, Collin Lange, and Doug Underwood.

Today was originally scheduled to be the last day of Central Texas Rockets here in Stonewall, but due to weather on Thursday and Friday, some schools rescheduled to Saturday and Sunday. Therefore we are still launching tomorrow. There is only one school, Georgetown High School with 4 rockets left to accommodate tomorrow, so hopefully it will be a short day launching  and recovering, and a quick clean up.

Phil assures me that there will be Livestreaming again for tomorrow’s launches. As of yet I have not found a new link for that particular date. I am going to leave the link for today’s live stream as that should get you to the page where you will be able to pick up the stream when it actually goes live for tomorrow.

Stages 1 and 2 will still be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building.  The launch site is still at the Sammy Segner Ranch on Double Horn Road.

The sites will be open to public viewing of launches. However, if you plan to attend any of these launches please register for your attendance ticket ahead of time or obtain them 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 Central Texas/Stonewall launch dates, locations, map links, ticket links, and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .

Central Texas/Stonewall:

  • Sunday,  May 5
  • New Launch Site: 2187 Double Horn Road, Stonewall, Texas 78671
    Stage 1 & 2 at Stonewall Chamber of Commerce: 250 Peach Street, Stonewall, TX 78671
  • https://www.greateventseats.com/FBG-SystemsGo
  • Schedule for Sunday:
  • Georgetown High School with 4-1 pound/1 mile
  • Google Map Link: https://goo.gl/maps/84VMTwMqFvy
    Directions (PDF)
  • Schools participating: Fabens HS, Fredericksburg HS, Granger HS, Hamilton HS, Kingwood HS, Lampasas HS, Llano HS, Marble Falls HS, McGregor HS, Roosevelt HS, Summer Creek HS, Decatur HS, Georgetown HS, Kermit HS, Liberty Christian School, Terrell HS, Tom Moore Ingram HS, Union Grove HS, Victoria East HS
  • 49 expected rockets for testing
  • A live feed for each launch will be provided and will be available at www.systemsgo.org as each launch date arrives. Friday’s is as follows: May 4- Day 3

The sites will be open for admittance at 8:00 a.m. and launches will commence 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.

Pictures from the progress at the site to this point 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

A live feed for each launch will be provided and will be available at www.systemsgo.org as each launch date arrives.

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 #texasrockettrail #Rockets2019

 

 

 

Rockets 2019 Central Texas/Stonewall Friday Launch Report

Saturday started off as a delayed launch until noon until the cloud window decided to hand a break  for a few hours before clouding up again around lunch. Crews rushed to the site to try to get rockets on the rails and in the skies. As it was, it was still hurry and wait as the clouds and weather never quite behave as  predicted. Even so, the second day of launches at the new site in Stonewall at the Sammy Segner Ranch was a great success.

The SystemsGo team and volunteer staff loaded and launched 8 rockets. Add to that a great recovery effort for the day. At day’s end all rockets shot for the weekend so far, with the exception of one, #77 have been recovered. I believe, that even so, #77 has at least a chute in possession at Mission Control.

We truly have an enthusiastic group of recovery volunteers this year. They are all having such a blast on this addictive game of lost and found.

George Burns put it best with his answer to the question, “what are you doing this weekend?” He said, “I am going out to a pasture I don’t know to run around looking for a needle in a haystack!”

Of course we are all enjoying ourselves and love the program or we would not be here doing what we do. Land owners Sammy Segner, Troy Spies, and Richard Koone are on recovery as well, and really enjoying the hunt.

Along with hunting Mr. Segner, had the added experience of pulling the LCRA truck out of the mud right in between Mission Control and the launch pad. Definitely not and ideal place for him to be stuck. 

Tomorrow will start early for the whole group as we have a start time of 0700. We have a full docket as our three original schools, Akins, Alamo Heights, and London, are being joined by Liberty Christian which moved from Friday, and the nine rockets from the trailer which didn’t get to launch due to weather Friday night. They include Hamilton, Marble Falls, McGregor, and Roosevelt. The schools whose rockets were in the trailer will not be in attendance but left their vehicles for SystemsGo to launch at the first opportunity provided they could watch them on Livestream. That is a total of 16 rockets for Saturday as far as I am informed.

Pictures from the progress at the site to this point 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

Festivities continue tomorrow as weather permits. Fortunately, tomorrow is predicted to be a better weather day for Stonewall Rockets 2019, and Sunday will be even better.

Unfortunately it has been raining here in Gillespie County since about 1645 and is still predicted to go until about 0200. This means it will be a bit of a messy start in the morning, but hopefully the sun will come through and dry it out a little. There still might be some delays in the morning from weather,  clouds, or flooding depending on how long the storms last this evening so be sure to watch for updates on SystemsGo‘s Facebook page.

Stages 1 and 2 will continue to be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building.

This site is be open to public viewing of launches. If you plan to attend any of these launches please register for your attendance ticket ahead of time or obtain them 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 Central Texas/Stonewall launch dates, locations, map links, ticket links, Livestream Links and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .

Central Texas/Stonewall:

  • Saturday, May 4
  • New Launch Site: 2187 Double Horn Road, Stonewall, Texas 78671
    Stage 1 & 2 at Stonewall Chamber of Commerce: 250 Peach Street, Stonewall, TX 78671
  • https://www.greateventseats.com/FBG-SystemsGo
  • Central Texas-Stonewall 2019 Flight Schedule
  • This schedule is still valid with the addition of Liberty Christian HS which moved to Saturday with one 1/1,  and the rockets from the trailer from Friday for schools, Hamilton HS with one of each 1/1 and Transonic, McGregor HS with one of each 1/1 and Transonic, Marble Falls HS with one of each 1/1 and Transonic, and Roosevelt with three, two 1/1 and one Transonic.
  • Google Map Link: https://goo.gl/maps/84VMTwMqFvy
    Directions (PDF)
  • Schools participating: Fabens HS, Fredericksburg HS, Granger HS, Hamilton HS, Kingwood HS, Lampasas HS, Llano HS, Marble Falls HS, McGregor HS, Roosevelt HS, Summer Creek HS, Decatur HS, Georgetown HS, Kermit HS, Liberty Christian School, Terrell HS, Tom Moore Ingram HS, Union Grove HS, Victoria East HS
  • 48 expected rockets for testing-7 on Saturday
  • A live feed for each launch will be provided and will be available at www.systemsgo.org as each launch date arrives. Friday’s is as follows: May 4- Day 3

The site will open for admittance at 8:00 a.m. and launches will commence 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.

More event details will be available here in upcoming days as events progress. Daily reports featuring schedule links, school names, results, pictures and some editorial content will be posted each day of the event 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 #texasrockettrail #Rockets2019

 

 

 

Rockets 2019 Central Texas/Stonewall Thursday Launch Report

We had a slow start today due to low cloud ceilings for our first day of launches at the new Stonewall site at the Sammy Segner Ranch. The schedule began with 11 schools and 25 rockets and quickly decreased to 7 schools and 17 rockets as 4 schools canceled due to weather concerns.

The original list included Fabens, Fredericksburg, Granger, Hamilton, Kingwood, Lampasas, Llano, Marble Falls, McGregor, Roosevelt, and Summer Creek. OF the four schools that canceled, I have not been able to confirmation as to whether they have rescheduled to another day, or dropped out for this year. These schools include Fabens, Lampasas, Llano, and Summer Creek. At this time schedules have not been updated on SystemsGo to confirm changes so I will continue to post them for up coming days as they are. SystemsGo did post a bulletin yesterday offering Sunday as a weather contingency day to make up launches. We have no word yet if any schools have moved to that day.

The team and volunteers did manage 9 rockets on the rails today of which, 6 launched, and three returned to Stage 3. Of the 6 only Frederickburg’s Transonic and McGregor’s 1 pound/1 mile were not recovered before the site had to be shut down for a severe thunderstorm approaching. Roosevelt was still in Stage 3 finishing their rocket at that time. Eight other rockets were ready for the rails and stored in the SystemsGo trailer for protection for the night.

Property owner, Sammy Segner, and son-in-law, Troy Spies, helped on recovery today. They participated as part of 8 teams in the field watching, and documenting rockets as they sailed the skies and returned to the ground. Mr. Segner is seen here on the second recovery of the day as he retrieves Kingwood’s #76 rocket from a tree with the help of Steve Burow. Standing by were Mr. Segner’s recovery partner, George Burns, and Burow’s partner, Ginger(me), who were navigating the new ArcGIS Survey for the Recovery of Rockets, by AlphaSAR, that Erin Arkinson,  with Alpha Search and Rescue from Houston, was helping our teams to implement to better track the vehicles’ recoveries.

We really appreciate the use of Mr. Segner’s place for this concert in the sky, as well as his enthusiastic participation in our recovery efforts.

Pictures from the progress at the site to this point 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

Festivities continue tomorrow as weather permits. Unfortunately, tomorrow is predicted to be the worst weather day for the stint of Stonewall Rockets 2019. Hopefully it will allow for some launches. Right now there is an 80% prediction of more storms during the night tonight as well as all day tomorrow. This could cause delays in our start times tomorrow as well as subsequent launches throughout the day.

Watch SystemsGo‘s Facebook page as well as their web page for updates about delays in the morning and throughout the day.

As for tomorrow, launches will continue as possible at the Sammy Segner Ranch on Double Horn Road and  Stages 1 and 2 will be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building.

Remember if you and your school have not been to the sites already today, these are also a new locations. Be sure you have the updated maps and directions to your intended locations.   Links are posted below.

The site is open to public viewing of launches. However, if you plan to attend any of these launch days please register for your attendance ticket ahead of time or obtain them 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 Central Texas/Stonewall launch dates, locations, map links, ticket links, Livestream links and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .

Central Texas/Stonewall:

The sites will be open for admittance at 8:00 a.m. and launches will commence 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.

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 #texasrockettrail #Rockets2019

 

 

 

Rockets 2019 Central Texas/Stonewall Launch Rides the Skies Tomorrow, Thursday

Central Texas/Stonewall  Rockets 2019 starts tomorrow! This launch is third in the series for the Rockets 2019 season. This site has moved from Willow City to the Sammy Segner Ranch in Stonewall, Texas, please be aware of that change. More information below.

Currently there are 48 rockets scheduled for launch by 21 schools at the new  Stonewall location. This schedule may be updated this week with the possibility of a few schools that were scheduled for the North Texas launch that could not make it, shifting to this launch. Also rain is in the forecast for most of the launch days. Due to this SystemsGo has issue a weather contingency plan adding Sunday as an alternative. PLEASE see that information quoted below the regular launch information.

Stages 1 and 2 will be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building.  This is also a new location.   This testing site  now covers mostly the Fredericksburg and Hill Country area schools.

The Central Texas/Stonewall launch dates, locations, map links, ticket links, Livestream links and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .

Central Texas/Stonewall:

  • Thursday, May 2
  • New Launch Site: 2187 Double Horn Road, Stonewall, Texas 78671
    Stage 1 & 2 at Stonewall Chamber of Commerce: 250 Peach Street, Stonewall, TX 78671
  • https://www.greateventseats.com/FBG-SystemsGo
  • Central Texas-Stonewall 2019 Flight Schedule
  • Google Map Link: https://goo.gl/maps/84VMTwMqFvy
    Directions (PDF)
  • Schools participating: Fabens HS, Fredericksburg HS, Granger HS, Hamilton HS, Kingwood HS, Lampasas HS, Llano HS, Marble Falls HS, McGregor HS, Roosevelt HS, Summer Creek HS, Decatur HS, Georgetown HS, Kermit HS, Liberty Christian School, Terrell HS, Tom Moore Ingram HS, Union Grove HS, Victoria East HS
  • 48 total expected rockets for testing-25 Thursday
  • A live feed for each launch will be provided and will be available at www.systemsgo.org as each launch date arrives. Thursday’s is as follows:
  • May 2- Day 1

*************************************************************************

Weather Contingency Advisory from SystemsGo:

Subject: Central Texas Launch Advisory:

Greeting teachers scheduled to launch in Stonewall May 2-4! If you have monitored the weather at all, you know we are in store for a wet event!  Being mindful that our FAA waiver prohibits us from launching into cloud cover and/or lightning in the vicinity, our opportunities to launch will be limited particularly on Thursday and Friday. We want to make sure you are aware of this and the options available. We do have Sunday scheduled as a weather contingency day.  That being said, you have the following options.

Option 1: You continue as planned with your scheduled launch date.  This may mean your rocket will not launch as scheduled. You will have the option to stay and see if we can launch it the following day OR you can leave it with us, we will launch it at our first opportunity.   Should you choose this, we will contact you prior to launch so you can put out the word so your students/parents can watch it on live stream.

Option 2:  Reschedule travel plans and launch day for Saturday or Sunday.  Contact Christy at 830-997-3567 IMMEDIATELY if you would like to reschedule for Saturday or Sunday depending on space available.

We are still looking forward to a great event, but are unable to control the weather. We regret any inconvenience!  Rest assured we will do everything within our power to launch your students rockets.

We do have a safety plan in the event of lightning in the vicinity that involves sheltering in place in the buses.  We appreciate your cooperation!

Rebekah Hyatt

*************************************************************************

The sites will be open for admittance at 8:00 a.m. and launches will commence at 8:30 a.m.  Of course as noted above, 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 any of these launches please register for your attendance ticket ahead of time or obtain them 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.

Here is a quick look at how our new home is shaping up for tomorrow. Pictures courtesy of Steve Burow. The intro picture for this article is Stage 3/Mission Control from here also.

More event details will be available here each evening during the even. Daily reports featuring schedule links, school names, results, pictures and some editorial content will be posted in these updates 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 #texasrockettrail #Rockets2019

 

 

 

Rockets 2019 Central Texas/Stonewall Launch Rides the Skies From a New Location, This Week

The Central Texas/Stonewall launch is third in the series for the Rockets 2019 season. This site has moved from Willow City to the Sammy Segner Ranch in Stonewall, Texas.

The “Fredericksburg” launch is the original  and therefore the longest  operating launch in the program. The rocket class began in 1996  as Principes of Technology, with a single one pound/one mile rocket developed and launched from a trailer in Lady Bird Johnson Park in 1997. In 1998 they launched the first Transonic vehicle, and in 1999 the first launch at White Sands Missile Range was conducted.

In 2003 the formal program know then as Ignite and now as SystemsGo was created and shared with other schools.

In 2007, five schools joined Fredericksburg in launching 1 pound/1 mile and transonic rockets at a one day event at the Meek Ranch off of State Hwy 16 South of Fredericksburg. This was the programs first official expanded group launch site where it remained  through 2009 until necessity called for a new place away from a major highway.

In 2010 they moved to the Camey Stewart Ranch in Willow City where it remained for 9 years, closing its season there in 2018.  Now in 2019 it continues activities at a new location in Stonewall.

In past years the volume has grown  substantially.  In 2017,  87 rockets were tested in that one  4 day weekend at the Stewart Ranch.  Even with the addition of the Houston launch site in 2012, taking some of the roster, the Fredericksburg launch carried a heavy load.

In 2018 some Southeast Texas schools still coming to Fredericksburg were asked to participate in Houston to try to even the load further. In doing this, they added a third day to the Houston launch and decreased Fredericksburg’s launch from four days to three.

The Fredericksburg site covered the Fredericksburg and Hill Country area schools, as well as North Texas,  and West Texas schools. Now with the addition of Jal, New Mexico and the New North Texas launches, the Fredericksburg load has reduced by about 1/3. With the program growing, these numbers will also continue to grow, but now each site has a renewed potential for expanded volume.

Currently there are 48 rockets scheduled for launch by 21 schools at the new  Stonewall location for Rockets 2019. This schedule may be updated this week with the possibility of a few schools that were scheduled for the North Texas launch that could not make it, shifting to this launch. These will be tested at the Sammy Segner Ranch in Stonewall.

Stages 1 and 2 will be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building.  This is also a new location.   This testing site  now covers mostly the Fredericksburg and Hill Country area schools.

If you follow this program and like to view the launches, Rockets 2019  will continue with one more launch in May. The final launch of the junior level rockets will be held in Smith Point just south of Anahuac, Texas (the Southeast Texas/Smith Point launch) for schools in the Houston  and Southeast Texas area.

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. This will be the fifth launch sequence and will finalize the Rockets 2019 season.

All sites will be open to public viewing of launches except White Sands Missile Range. However, if you plan to attend any of these launches please register for your attendance ticket ahead of time or obtain them 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 Central Texas/Stonewall launch dates, locations, map links, ticket links, and schools are also listed here for your convenience or can be found at http://www.systemsgo.org/events/ .

Central Texas/Stonewall:

The sites will be open for admittance at 8:00 a.m. and launches will commence 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.

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 #Texasrockettrail #Rockets2019

 

 

 

Day 41-June 19-21, Fredericksburg Area Festival and Event Update

To start, the house has really been quiet since both the girls are back at their places again. We had a wonderful visit and I already can’t wait to see them both again. Of course that will be about 6 months for Kasey, possibly Christmas time.

Chelsea will be in and out some during the summer months. She will actually be in for the Goddard rocket shoot at WSMR in July. Of course she won’t be here much. Hopefully I will get to go along this year, but I am still not sure at this point. The Goddard level rockets are the “big dogs” of this program, hence why they have to haul them to a missile range in New Mexico to test them.

I will probably be doing an informational piece on them closer to the actual date, but if you just can’t wait, as always the address is: www.systemsgo.org

Looking ahead a bit to the rest of the week, there are a whole lot of things going on in Fredericksburg, Stonewall and our great area this week and weekend. The Chamber Calendar is full. Here is a calendar copy and recap.

6/18/2015 Summer Farmers Market “Get Fresh, Buy Local”
6/19/2015 Annual Stonewall Peach JAMboree and Rodeo
6/19/2015 Fredericksburg Trade Days
6/19/2015 Fredericksburg Theater Company presents “Evita”
6/20/2015 Father’s Day Food and Wine Pairing at Rancho Ponte Vineyard
6/20/2015 Thomas Michael Riley Music Festival in Luckenbach
6/20/2015 Cooking Class at Urban Herbal
6/21/2015 Fredericksburg’s Weinstrasse Father’s Day Event

This calendar can be found here: http://www.fredericksburg-texas.com/events/

The next four days really have a little something for almost everyone. Thursday, the Farmer’s Market has lots of fresh items from vegetables, fruits, cheeses, canned good, Gulf Shrimp, pizzas, live music and a relaxed atmosphere to enjoy while you shop. For more information on this weekly summer event here is the address: http://www.fbgfarmersmarket.com/

Friday evening, The Fredericksburg Theater Company begins their summer production of “Evita”, a musical production by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice. This story portrays a rag to riches story of an Argentina First Lady. Show dates are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 2:00 pm, and July 4th at 3:00 pm. The theater is located at 1668 S HWY 87. Tickets are $29/Adults and $12/children. For more information call 830-997-3588 or go online at http://www.fredericksburgtheater.org/

For Friday through Sunday, the direction for fun, food, entertainment, festivals, wine and shopping is definitely east. East US Highway 290 houses the locations for most of the places to be and see for the weekend. The Stonewall Peach Jamboree, The Thomas Michael Riley Music Festival, and the Fredericksburg Trade Days begin Friday.

The Fredericksburg Trade Days runs Friday and Saturday, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and Sunday from 9:00 to 4:00 pm. Parking is $5 and good for the whole weekend. The venue is located 7 miles East on US Highway 290 across from the Wildseed Farms.  There are over 350 vendors of all kind.  Food, music and refreshments for adults and children are available.  For more information: http://www.fbgtradedays.com/

Luckenbach, Texas hosts the Thomas Michael Riley Music Festival starting Friday at 5:00 pm to 11:45 pm, Saturday from 1:00 pm to 11:45 pm, and continuing on Sunday from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Tickets are $20 for Friday or Saturday night, Sunday afternoon is free.  Twelve different performers, including Larry Joe Taylor, The Wolf Sisters, Jamie Richards, and Cooder Graw will take the stage on hourly intervals ending Friday and Sunday evenings with Thomas Michael Riley. A complete schedule is available at http://www.luckenbachtexas.com/ or http://www.thomasmichaelriley.com/8thannualmusicfestival.html

Stonewall hosts its 54th Annual Peach Jamboree Friday and Saturday. This is a family fun event with nightly CPRA Ram Rodeo and dance featuring Jody Nix on Friday and John Conlee on Saturday. Tickets are $15 Friday, $20 Saturday or a weekend pass for $30. Children ages 3-12 are $5. Entrance to the grounds on Saturday during the day is free. There is a parade, mutton bustin’, Peach Queen Contest, baking preserves, and salsa contest, 42 tournament, washer pitching, Kids patch, BBQ, peach eating and numerous other activities for your daytime entertainment. Rodoes begin at 6:00 pm both nights followed by the dance.  For more information call 830-644-2735 or http://www.stonewalltexas.com/

Saturday from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm there is a Father’s Day Food and Wine Paring at Rancho Ponte Vineyard at 315 Ranch Road 1376. Cost is $90 and includes demonstration and three food and wine parings with Chef Rachel Ponte. For more information http://www.ranchoponte.com/

Also on Saturday, located at 407 Whitney Street, Urban Herbal presents a cooking class on “Farm Fresh class of Salad, Quiche and Tart”. Reserve your seat in advance. Class starts at 11:00 am at a cost of $75. This recipe session will also include a wine paring for your new do it yourself easy menu. For more information call 830-456-9667 or online at http://www.urbanherbal.com/

If you are at a loss as to what to get Dad for Father’s Day, and he is a wine lover, then, Inwood Estates, Mendelbaum Cellars, and 4.0 Cellars have an event that’s “just for Dad.” They are hosting a mini wine tour event, called Fredericksburg Weinstrasse Father’s Day Event, with wine tastings, food paring and live music. Tickets are $35 and include all three wineries. Visit between noon and 4:00 pm and receive a 19 oz. crystal Bordeaux glass. For more information call 830-997-2304 or visit http://www.fredericksburgweinstrasse.com/

There is an event and entertainment for all ages in Gillespie County and the Fredericksburg, Stonewall area this weekend. Hope to see you at one or perhaps all of them. Have a great weekend.