Tag: systemsgo.org

Day 62- SystemsGo Team Ends Another Successful Year

The SystemsGo team traveled home from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico today. They left Alamogordo around 0800 and arrived safely in Fredericksburg around 1845.

They have now completed another successful year with launches in Houston, Willow City, and WSMR. The group helped students attempt the launches of over 90 Tchaikovsky and Oberth rockets and 6 Goddard level rockets.

Now they take a short needed break before getting fired up for a new year with more schools, students and rockets. It won’t be long and the “launch season” will be back again.

SystemsGo transitions back to helping schools and teachers implement this STEM based program so that more students can participate in this system of learning.

That concludes Thursday’s WSMR Rocket update.

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

Team photo includes from left to right, Brett Williams (SystemsGo founder), Cade Ottmers, Brian Heffner, Josh Hampton, Chelsea Burow, Gene Garrett, Steve Burow, Randy Kuhlmann, Robert Dever, and Andrew Matthes (FHS STEM program instructor).

Day 61-Rockets at WSMR-Final Launch Day-Update

Today was the final launch day at WSMR for this year’s participating schools. Alamo Heights High School was scheduled for launches of two separate rockets today, one that they were unable to launch while at WSMR last year, and a new one from this year’s class. Union Grove was on standby for a second attempt if time permitted.

The SystemsGo team and the high schools had another early start to the day arriving at WSMR at 0400, with an eight hour window for launches. Transition times between launches were running at two hours each, which allowed all three launch attempts to be completed quickly, everything to be packed up, and the group off the range by 1800.

Alamo Heights started off with their new rocket at the pad. They had a successful fill, fire, and launch. The vehicle climaxed at 17,000 feet, and then nosed over and came down ballistic. What was recovered from it was in pieces.

Alamo Height second rocket, the return from last year took the pad next. It too had a successful fill, fire, and launch, leaving the pad behind and reaching an altitude of 34,000 feet. This rocket also came down ballistic, and they were only able to recover the motor section.

Union Grove was able to attempt a second launch. They had a successful fill, which ended in a vehicle malfunction that caused the injector system to open but no ignition. Speculation is that the Estes motor inside with the electric match did not light because of a possible wire short in the rocket.

That concluded the launch series at WSMR for this year. To recap out of six vehicles, there were two successful launches each with failed recovery systems. One more low altitude launch with in flight mechanical failure causing premature landing and continued burn out. One complete hang fire on the rail. And two scratched due to vehicle malfunctions at fill.

Congratulations to all five schools for getting this far. There are schools every year that aspire to be here, and do not make it. You have accomplished a great deal. You have all met the objective of the program which is to create a scratch built rocket, have it completed and ready for flight, and on the rail attempting launch at White Sands Missile Range. The goal of flight, may have been elusive, or perhaps achieved but still problematic, but you made it here, and each of you has something to learn from the event and some will have the chance to study, fix and try again. All of you are in an elite group of past and present students that attempted to launch a rocket at WSMR.

Tomorrow is another long day of travel as the SystemsGo team and participating schools all head back to Texas. Hopefully it will be a safe, smooth trip home without any issues.

That concludes Wednesday’s WSMR Rocket update.

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

Tune in again tomorrow for an update from Thursday’s trip home from White Sands Missile Range this week.

 

Day 59-Rockets at WSMR -Launch Day 1-Update

Monday was another long day for the SystemsGo team, students from Marble Falls and Anahuac High Schools, and WSMR officials as they commenced the first day of tests.  Start time on the range at 0400 was with no electricity due to lightning strikes the evening before, but this was quickly corrected.

The Fill and Fire System completed set up with the addition of the Comm Readout Displays which allow the bunk house and the pad to see a digital readout of the temperature,  pressure, and weight for the vehicle on the pad during the launch preparation sequences. The full system was tested and minor glitches addressed which brought it to 100% working and readiness. Throughout the day the system was reported to work great and continued at 100%.

Marble Falls was originally scheduled to test a 0830, instead it made it to the pad at around 1200. The vehicle passed its final fill and fire tests and went vertical around 1230. The survey team set the angel at 85 degrees with an azimuth of 355. Six Nitrous bottles were loaded into the tank. At this point it almost over pressured and began to release venting liquid instead of gas. At 175 lbs and 900 PSI  the vehicle was determined ready for launch. Switches were good, and flame was good, but the injector failed to open and the rocket went into a still fire burn on the pad, continuing to burn for four minutes, until the bottom began leaking the nitrous.

Army rules forbid any contact during this time and for 30 minutes after the fire burned out. At that time the Oxidizer crew was allowed to approach and evaluate the vehicle. The rocket was too hot too touch delaying removal of it from the pad for another hour.

Minor damages were reported to the launch rail and trailer, but nothing that would affect or delay any future launches at this time. Instead it was just enough to give Captain Garrett something to do over the summer again.

At approximately 1400 Anahuac’s vehicle was brought to the pad and cleared for launch. At fill, one and a half bottles were loaded into the tank at which time it began leaking out from a vehicle malfunction, and Anahuac had to be scratched.

This concluded the tests for the day, setting today’s successful launch rate at zero. Any school that actually makes it this far is still a success for the simple fact that they attempted a launch of a vehicle of this size. They still have post analysis to do and challenges to over come to prevent these outcomes in the future.

Mother nature was reported to have attended the tests today as well and thrown her own challenges into the range for the crew to overcome, as well as find some humor in once they had passed. First a large dirt devil spawned right on top of the range and attempted to steal one of the large staging tents, causing a commotion as individuals scrambled after and reset it. Later, two birds were fighting on a transformer out by the pad, when a loud pop resounded, right after which one bird fell to the ground while the other made its escape and the power at the pad went down. Luckily they were using generators so this did not affect the pad and they continued as it was being fixed.

The crew spent fourteen hours at the range today, with an 8 hour launch window. Tomorrow they begin their day at 0900 with a shortened 6 hour launch window due to some other military tests scheduled for that morning early. Union Grove High School will be first followed by Booker T Washington High School. Both rockets are reported to be at 100% and waiting.

That concludes Monday’s WSMR Rocket update.

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

Tune in again tomorrow for an update from Tuesday and a schedule of Wednesday’s launches at White Sands Missile Range this week.

 

Day 58-Rockets at WSMR Setup Day

SystemsGo had a productive first day today in spite of a long night on the road getting in around 0200 and a short night of sleep. They were at the range bright and early Sunday morning to set up for the launches and finish and evaluate rockets.

The SystemsGo team split into groups.  Captain Garrett and Steve Burow headed up the group at the pad setting up the launch rail. Robert Dever and Randy Kuhlmann set up the Fill and Fire system and proceeded with on-site testing. Brett Williams and Chelsea Burow rolled out all the cabling and connected the electrical systems and after which they helped Andrew Matthes who was overseeing the student groups with final checks and problem solving on rockets.

The first four schools for this Goddard level program were there with their rockets ready for leak and readiness tests. These tests are standard operating procedure used to create safeguards and ensure a successful launch as long as there are no internal parameters that cause the rocket to fail. No rocket will launch without passing these tests. An initial fail does not mean that the rocket is scratched for launch, only that the school has a short window of time in which to correct the issue so that it may be retested, pass and proceed to launch. Time constraints do not allow for continuous testing so the vehicle must pass quickly or be pulled from the launch sequence.

Marble Falls first test showed a minor problem, they were able to fix the issue and passed their second test. They are ready to launch and are scheduled as the first school for tomorrow morning at 0830.

Anahuac is scheduled to launch second tomorrow, but they are currently still working to resolve an issue shown in their test.

Union Grove is scheduled as first launch on Tuesday morning. They passed all their leak and readiness tests and are on standby for launch from 1200 to 1600 Monday in the event that Anahuac is not ready, or extra time allows.

Booker T Washington passed their leak test. They are scheduled as the second launch on Tuesday and are currently still finishing some last minute adjustments.

Set up and systems tests also went well. The new Fill and Fire system tested at 100% minus the Comm Readout Displays because a thunderstorm and lightning in the area prevented them from setting up that part of the system. This display allows mission control and the pad to communicate by sight through a constantly evolving digital readout in order to better coordinate launch sequences without the delay of radio communications, allowing for more safety and efficiency during the Fill and Fire, and count down stages. This last component will be set up early Monday morning and will complete its readiness check before the first launch, putting the full system at 100%.

A few members of the SystemsGo team got drenched in the fast approaching storm while they were down at the pad trying to put Marble Falls’ rocket on the rail so that it would be ready for launch Monday morning. Instead it was covered and left to be raised on the rail early Monday morning.

The Army has allotted an eight-hour window for testing tomorrow. The day begins at 0400 at the range for the SystemsGo team to accomplish these last necessities left from set up today. Then at 0600 the survey team shows up provide angel and azimuth settings for the launches to ensure they perform in a set area of the range for safety and recovery. Then if everything is in perfect order, Marble Falls will test their rocket launching at 0830. Anahuac or Union Grove will follow as quickly in succession as readiness allows.

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

Tune in again tomorrow for an update from Monday and a schedule of Tuesday’s launches at White Sands Missile Range this week.

 

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.