Systems Go! Rocket Program Soars to “Goddard” Level
This week, instructor Chris McLeod and his students in the Rockets Engineering II class at Brazoswood High School shared their engineering skills to reveal their Goddard Rocket, Horizon 1.They will take their 103 lbs dry weight, 7” in diameter and 18 feet overall length Goddard Rocket to the National Competition in White Sands, New Mexico, with the launch window opening up this Saturday.
Mr. McLeod, his students and their supporters will make the long trek to New Mexico later this week to compete with three other schools who have successfully reached this level of the competition. Brazoswood’s hope is that Horizon 1 will reach 49,000 feet or a bit beyond. The original Systems Go Rocket cap for height was 100,000 feet, but that limit was changed to 50,000 last year due to a smaller site being used for the launches.
On Friday, Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the rocket set up will take place while the Systems Go team sets up the rest. All rockets are to be ready by the end of the day. Then on Saturday, Brazoswood students and Mr. McLeod will be taken to a secure location, which is further down range, where they will watch their launch on screens inside a facility - a safe distance away. Volunteer staffing from the Systems Go team will not be available this year so parents and school volunteers will not be allowed on site.
The four schools scheduled to launch this weekend:
Alamo Heights
Brazoswood
Fredericksburg
Union Grove
Brazoswood is set to launch last on Saturday, June 25.
