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 14th 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 13th 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

SystemsGo New Mexico Inaugural Launches Were a Great Success Thursday in Jal

Congratulations to SystemsGoNM on a great day in Jal, NM Thursday. Six schools attempted launching a total of 10 rockets today and 9 of those 10 were successful launches. That is quite an impressive start for the New Mexico program branch. Staff from SystemsGo in Texas were very pleased with today’s launch outcome.

Program Director, Rebekah Hyatt had this to say,  “SystemsGo NM has officially established their program! Jal high school was the first SG school to certify and launch a rocket! They are off to a fabulous start!”

All rockets tested this year were one pound/one mile vehicles, next year the program plans to add the next level transonic rockets to the docket. This will make next year another interesting year to keep an eye on this new program as transonic add their own set of challenges both for the students and the launch facilities.

To add to the great news, the program in New Mexico is growing and more schools may be added this next year.

Congratulations to the six schools that were part of this monumental inaugural launch this year. You were all part of history and did very well. Jal High School, Carlsbad High School, Hobbs High School, Lake Arthur High School, Loving High School, and Lovington High School, you are the first to build a launch a rocket in your schools and state as part of this program. You are now what new schools will watch and aspire to be and beat. This is a good thing. You have set your schools up for future successes. And as years pass you will find there will be a bit of friendly competition to achieve the best. This just keeps each new class reaching a little farther to learn that one thing that makes their project not only better than last year’s, but better than any other schools’.

In the beginning just getting off the rail is a huge success, but as years go by you want to improve those results. Some of you will be back next year, and some of you will not. For those that will not, you have something that no one after you will ever have again, you were the first to achieve success here today, and your success has set the bar for next year. For those that will be back, and for future groups after you, the bar is set, now it’s time to move forward and surpass it. Success now, is not matching what others have done, it is attempting to give those after you another measure to beat. This not only helps future students it helps your school’s program to continue and be successful.

The best part of this is that all you learned here in the program carries over into your success in the future. Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and whether you realize it or not, business, communication, and work place training will all help lead you to future success.

Here are a few high lights from today’s program:   

Above are two photos from the launch site.

 These are Stage 1 and Stage 2 at Jal Volunteer Fire Department.   All photos are courtesy of Rebekah Hyatt, SystemsGo Program Director.

More photos from today’s activities are available here: https://www.facebook.com/ginger.burow/media_set?set=a.1452809664740160.1073741877.100000334203350&type=3

This closes out the SystemsGoNM launch activities.

Tomorrow the team members from SystemsGo in Texas will head back to Fredericksburg and continue preparations for more launches.

Rockets 2017  will continue with two  more launches in May. The first will be held in Smith Point just south of Anahuac, Texas for schools in the Houston area, on the weekend of  May 12-14, 2017. 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 is a new location for that area this year. Information and a map link are available on the website.

Next the Stewart Ranch in Willow City, Texas will host the largest of the now three launch events on the weekend of May 18-21, 2017.  This testing site covers the Fredericksburg and Hill Country area schools and all Texas schools not participating in the Houston launches.

The senior groups are tentatively scheduled to launch their Goddard level rockets at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico the week of June 26-30.  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.

If you plan to attend any of this year’s launches please register for your attendance ticket at http://www.systemsgo.org/save-the-date-for-rockets-2017/  or they may be gotten at the gate. These are free but required for admittance to each 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.

You may also view any of the launches except WSMR on Livestream. That link will be available on the SystemsGo website closer to the launch.

The launch schedules for each venue are available at http://www.systemsgo.org/save-the-date-for-rockets-2017/ . I will post it here for each launch day as well. I want it to be as accurate as possible so I will refrain from posting schedules until the evening before each launch day in case there are any late changes.

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 in upcoming days/weeks as events get closer. Daily reports featuring schedules, school names, results, pictures and some editorial content will be posted during the events.

http://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.

Thank you for reading and following the SystemsGo Rockets.

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.

SystemsGo Texas Heads to Support SystemsGo New Mexico

Members of SystemsGo, including Gene Garrett, Rebekah Hyatt, and Scott Netherland traveled to Jal, NM today to lend support to  David Willden and the new SystemsGoNM as they prepare to execute their first launches for six New Mexico schools new to the program for this year. Members of SystemsGoNM have already been hard at work readying the new Discovery Education Launch Pad for Thursday’s launches.  They have also been prepping the Jal Fire Station for Stages 1 and 2.

Wednesday, SystemsGoNM and SystemsGo will join forces to train volunteers and clarify operating systems procedures. This will serve to help refresh members who were observers at Willow City last May, and be an easy paced on the job training session for them and others involved. This should help prepare them in order to make Thursday run smoothly. Training will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Jal Fire Station.

A reception for Sponsors, Volunteers and Dignitaries will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Wednesday evening in Hobbs, NM at the Baymont Inn and Suites. Attendees will listen to speakers instrumental to the launch of this new program. Refreshments will be served during the presentations.

Schools participating in the Jal launches include Carlsbad High School, Hobbs High School, Jal High School, Lake Arthur High School, Loving High School and Lovington High School.

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

The schedule of launches for Jal is available at http://www.systemsgo.org/save-the-date-for-rockets-2017/ . I will post it here for launch day as well.

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 theses events.

More event details will be available here Wednesday and Thursday evening. Daily reports featuring schedules, school names, results, pictures and some editorial content will be posted each evening.

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.

 

Rockets 2017 Begins Next Week With a New Venue in New Mexico

The launch of Rockets 2017 blasts skyward on April 27th from a brand new venue this year as six schools from New Mexico join the SystemsGo program. Last year instructors from these schools came to Willow City to observe, learn and participate in launches in order to implement the program at a new site in New Mexico.

SystemsGo New Mexico is headed up by David Willden and currently includes the schools of Carlsbad High School, Hobbs High School, Jal High School, Lake Arthur High School, Loving High School and Lovington High School. This is their first year in the program and they will attempt launching a total of 10 one pound/one mile rockets at a location near Jal, New Mexico.  This new site, called the Discovery Education Launch Pad,  will be open to public viewing of launches, as are all sites except White Sands Missile Range this year. 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 at 8:30 a.m.

If you plan to attend Jal or any of this year’s launches please register for your attendance ticket at http://www.systemsgo.org/save-the-date-for-rockets-2017/  or they may be gotten at the gate. These are free but required for admittance to each 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.

You may also view any of the launches except WSMR on Livestream. That link will be available on the SystemsGo website closer to the launch. The New 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

The schedule of launches for Jal is also available at http://www.systemsgo.org/save-the-date-for-rockets-2017/ . I will post it here for launch day next week as well. I want it to be as accurate as possible so I will refrain from posting it now in case there are any late changes.

If you are in the Jal, New Mexico area, keep an eye out for this new vehicle. It just rolled out recently to support the new launch group. 

If you follow this program and like to view the launches, Rockets 2017  will continue with two  more launches in May. The first will be held in Smith Point just south of Anahuac, Texas for schools in the Houston area, on the weekend of  May 12-14, 2017. 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 is a new location for that area this year. Information and a map link are available.

Next the Stewart Ranch in Willow City, Texas will host the largest of the now three launch events on the weekend of May 18-21, 2017.  This testing site covers the Fredericksburg and  Hill Country area schools and all Texas schools not participating in the Houston launches.

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

The senior groups are tentatively scheduled to launch their Goddard level rockets at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico the week of June 26-30.  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.