It�s mid April just outside of Huntsville, Alabama. High school and
College students from across the country have gathered at this farm
to complete a project started eight months earlier, and could affect
the rest of their lives. Their journey to the stars starts here�
The NASA Student Launch Projects began as a way to encourage
students to study science, technology, engineering and math by
taking them out of the classroom and literally into the field.
These young scientists design, build and test reusable rockets
carrying a scientific payload they create. The goal: climb
one mile above ground level� and drift safely back to earth.
"And there's the chute deployed. A beautiful chute in a beautiful sky!"
There are two divisions of the NASA Student Launch Projects:
college and high school. For the high school participants, work
begins nearly a year before the NASA Student Launch Project
launches with qualifying in national competitions. Those who
do well are invited to submit proposals to participate in the
coming year�s NASA Student Launch Projects. College teams, on
the other hand, don�t have a qualifying competition. They submit
a proposal to NASA, detailing their rocket design and payload�.
Just like professional scientists and engineers in the
workforce. Once teams are accepted, their work begins in earnest.
�Since August, we pretty much have met every
single day, so like really the excitement of being out here today, it all boils down to
one single launch. Our main came down nice. It wasn�t in the trees, thank God. So, I
guess our goal of closer to heaven actually did come true.�
�A lot of long nights� after school, working and talking and yelling at each
other.� The program fosters an interest in aerospace and encourages the
use of science and math skills in a hands-on setting, but students also learn the
challenges and requirements NASA professionals face. For example: students work closely
with propulsion engineers at NASA�s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. They
meet via video teleconference to give detailed reports of their progress and receive
valuable feedback from the same people who built the Saturn V, the Space Shuttle� and
are designing America�s next generation of space vehicles. Chuck Pierce: We go through
a conceptual design, a preliminary design, a critical design, which is also your final
design. Then we go build it and then you do your verification and your final flight
readiness review. We do the same thing with the students. We run them through the
paces and they see what the engineering design cycle is all about. We step them through
step-by-step, tell them what to expect each step along the way and where they should be
and everything and it�s really awesome. The students love it. They have to do reports, make
up a full package for us. It�s really great practice for them to document their designs.
Anybody can go build something in the garage, but to sit down ahead of time and plan out
what you�re going to do and then do the drawings and think about everything and then
document it for your design and then, once a design is complete, to document exactly what you
have done is a really good exercise and the students love it. The teachers love it because
it�s a great opportunity for them to work on writing skills, technical writing or just
grammatical writing and its just an overall great project. These scientists and engineers
suggest ways to make the student rockets more efficient and safe� a valuable learning
experience not lost on this group of future rocket engineers.
�We�ve done a lot of risk mitigation charts, risk analysis, because safety
is the primary concern. Anything that you�re doing with NASA or with anything, especially
with rocketry, it�s so critical that your safety is first� and with the University student
launch initiative, what you do is you take all of the principles from your technical to
your communications skills to working with teams and you�re able to put it all together
and it�s just a beautiful synthesis that really simulates what it is to work in the real
world.� The benefits extend to NASA as well.
�For NASA, this is just an incredibly important event for these students.
The opportunity to design and then build and then actually fly a rocket � I mean, how many
students get a chance to do that? And just imagine what a leg up it�s giving them on
their engineering careers and their future prospects. These are the people from whom you�re
going to hire your next generation of workers and engineers, astronauts and scientists. Each
of these people have a passion. Each of these students have already said that this is what
I want to do with my life. I want to build things and I want to be associated with the
space program. This is really what NASA is all about.� After nearly an entire
school year working nights and weekends on the project, it culminates with a visit to the
Marshall Space Flight Center for the rocket launch and final face-to-face meetings with
the engineers who have mentored them for the past six months. Teams, teachers and mentors
go through a detailed safety briefing the first day they arrive in Huntsville, explaining
the process students are required to follow on launch day. They also have a chance to
share their designs and payloads with other schools and NASA employees at the Rocket Fair.
(music) After an exciting day of comparing notes and general
camaraderie, teams are encouraged to get a good night�s rest in
anticipation of a full-day of rocket launches. The excitement builds
as students arrive at Bragg Farm, just north of Huntsville, and
begin assembling their rockets. Before they can
even approach the launch pads, they have to visit the
Range Safety Officer with a checklist of improvements
they made in just the last 24 hours.
Last night, we did hardware checks with all the
teams. We took all their rockets completely apart. We identified
a couple of items and we wrote it down on a list. So, they brought
that list with their corrections up here and we checked it off.
So, we looked to make sure that they fixed what we asked them
to fix, and they have. So, now they�re going back to put their
rocket together and go fly!� Once the rocket passes
a final safety check, the team takes their checklist to the
Launch Control Officer, who reviews the flight card, verifying the
type of rocket and payload. NASA gets some help from some of the
top amateur rocket enthusiasts in the country who share the agency�s
vision of the Student Launch Projects.
"Get students to understand
about aerospace technology, get hands-on experience with it and
experience launching their own rockets in a controlled and safe
environment. The students are actually the future of aerospace
for America.� Another group with eyes on this event
is the Student Launch Project corporate sponsor ATK, the same
company that tested and built the solid rocket booster for the Space
Shuttle. �As producer and manufacturer
of Solid Rocket Boosters, this makes sense for us to support
rocket launches, and it�s important because this is our future
workforce. So, these kids are wonderful. We love talking to them
about their payloads. There is nothing better than getting out
here and launch rockets as they�re getting inspired and learning
about science and technology for our future workforce.� - �Why isn�t this cool? I mean, we
launched off high-powered rockets, we got to test blowing up
black powder during class every day building the rockets. It was a
real good hands-on experience. It was awesome.�
Students learn quite a bit more than just the science of rocket
propulsion. They learn about presentations, speaking to the media�
(�So, it looked like a really good straight flight and I�m
happy with what we got!�
and maybe most importantly how to work as a team.
- �We all share a love for rockets and we work hard together. It�s just fun.� After
handing off the flight card, teams will talk to the Pad Manager who assigns them a launch
pad based on the height and design of the rocket. Finally, the pad is armed for flight � and,
after months of late nights, heated discussions, crash and burns, and presentations to
real rocket scientists� 3-2-1 START!
(series of launches and indistinct cheers)
Teams can earn awards in both the high
school and college divisions, but ATK supplies a cash grand prize
to the top college team. But, for all the students, the rewards
are plentiful. The lessons learned as a member of a team� the
chance to design, build and launch a working rocket� and working
side-by-side with real rocket scientists� �It sounded
interesting and it�s a good challenge and it�s fun. You get to make
things fly and do cool stuff like come down here.�
�Coming out to such a great state and visiting NASA officials and
launching rockets. It is such an awesome experience.�
The NASA Student Launch Projects brings the excitement of space
flight within reach of these teenagers while cementing the knowledge
of science, technology, engineering and math that could carry
them to the stars. For more information on NASA Student
Launch Projects including how to qualify, visit us on the web: