The 2019 Rocket season is boasting five launches this year! The SystemsGo program added a brand new venue in North Texas as well as a new location for the original Central Texas launch, making three Texas launches and one New Mexico launch for the Tsiolkovsky and Oberth levels. The fifth and final launch for the season is the Goddard level at White Sands Missile Range, in New Mexico.
The current rosters list 13 schools participating in the Jal, New Mexico launch, where they will be testing 33 rockets. This is the third year for this venue and already they are outfitted with their own staff and volunteers. Fredericksburg Program Staff will still be there to help and oversee operations. Their numbers in both schools and rockets has greatly increased since their first season. They began with 6 schools and 10 rockets, only testing Tsiolkovsky vehicles. Now they test both Tsiolkovsky and Oberth level vehicles, and have doubled the amount of participating schools and more than tripled the rocket numbers.
With 13 schools launching in Jal, and a total of 51 schools in the three Texas launches, that brings the grand total of schools to 64. Add testing 145 rockets at the Texas launches to Jal’s 33 and 178 rockets will #RideTheSkies for this 2019 Rocket season.
Later in the summer, eight Texas schools are currently on the roster to attempt a possible 10 rockets at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, completing the fifth launch and finalizing the season.
SystemsGo New Mexico does have a twitter feed in order to follow the launches. The link is still live, but right now there are no current tweets. That link is https://twitter.com/SystemsGoNM
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 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/ .
Jal, New Mexico:
- Tuesday, April 16 – Wednesday, April 17
- Returning to the launch site on Phillips Hill Road near Jal.
- https://www.greateventseats.com/NewMexico
- Jal, New Mexico 2019 Flight Schedule
- Schools participating: Fort Sumner HS, Goddard HS, Grady HS, Hobbs HS, Lake Arthur HS, New Tech Odessa HS, Roswell HS, Elida HS, Hagerman HS, Jal HS, Loving HS, Lovington HS
- 33 expected rockets for testing
North Texas/Jack County:
- Friday, April 26-Saturday, April 27
- New Launch Site: FM 2210 W and Gowan Ranch Lane, Jacksboro, TX 76458
Stage 1 & 2 at Perrin VFD: 2210 W Hackley Street, Perrin, TX 76486
- https://www.greateventseats.com/NthTexas
- North Texas-Jack County 2019 Flight Schedule
- Map to Sites (PDF)
- Schools participating: Buinger CTE Academy, Carroll HS, Henrietta HS, Hollenstein CTC, Scurry-Rosser HS, University HS, Birdville CTAL, Grapevine HS, Maypearl HS, Northwest HS, Petrolia HS, RL Turner HS
- 39 expected rockets for testing
Central Texas/Stonewall:
- Thursday, May 2 – 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
- 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
Southeast Texas/Smith Point
- Thursday, May 9 – Saturday, May 11
- Launch & All Stages: 19350 FM 562, Anahuac, TX 77514
South of Anahuac, near Smith Point, Texas
- https://www.greateventseats.com/EastTexas
- Southeast Texas-Smith Point 2019 Flight Schedule
- Google Map Link: https://goo.gl/maps/GE2tXoy3bgE2
- Schools participating: Gary HS, Hardin-Jefferson HS, Harleton HS, Northstar HS, SF Austin HS, Anahuac HS, Booker T Washington HS, Liberty HS, Pasadena Memorial HS, South Houston HS, Brazsoport HS, Brazoswood HS, Channelview HS, Kingwood Park HS, Milby HS, New Diana HS
- 57 expected rockets for testing
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.
If you follow this program and like to view the launches, Rockets 2019 will continue with three more launches in April and May. Next the brand new site in Jack County in North Texas will be the place to be. The launch site is in Jacksboro while Stages 1 and 2 are at the Fire Department in nearby Perrin. Patience may be in order if you are watching here, since occasionally there can be small kinks to work out at a new location. Of course as those of you know that have watched before, patience is a normal requirement with test vehicles. 39 rockets will be tested by 12 schools at this new site this year.
The Central Texas/Fredericksburg launch site will be third in the line up this year. It has moved from Willow City to the Sammy Segner Ranch in Stonewall, Texas. Stages 1 and 2 will be at the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce building. This is a new location for this launch as well, but hopefully it will continue to run smoothly (as smooth as this kind of thing does anyway) since it is the same basic crew and volunteers, with a few new volunteers too, but just in a new place. This testing site covers mostly the Fredericksburg and Hill Country area schools. Currently there are 49 rockets scheduled for launch by 22 schools at this location.
The last of the junior level launches will be held in Smith Point just south of Anahuac, Texas for schools in the Houston and Southeast Texas area. Currently 57 vehicles are scheduled for testing by 17 schools at this site. This location is in its third year for that area. Information and a map links are available.
A live feed for each launch, except Jal, New Mexico, will be provided and will be available at www.systemsgo.org as each launch date arrives.
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 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!
On the Wings of Angels 