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The Student Prints

The Student Prints

NASA SL Team Prepares for Launch

NASA+SL+Team+Prepares+for+Launch

The NASA Student Launch team has been working very hard since September to ensure that their All Terrain Recovery System (ATRS) works perfectly for their competition in April.

The ATRS will be used to secure a rocket safely on the ground when the team travels to Huntsville, Alabama for the contest. However, a lot of preparation must be done in advance for this to be successful.

In December, the team held a video conference with NASA engineers discussing the work they have done so far and proposing their idea for the ATRS. The meeting went smoothly and the engineers loved the idea, according to senior team member Mitch Gibson.

After the meeting, the team began constructing a half-scale replica of the rocket. This took about a month and was followed by a trip out to Timberstone Junior High School to launch it.

Many team members were nervous as to how this would turn out. If the half-scale didn’t work like it was supposed to, it is unlikely that the final rocket would function properly and the team might not have enough time to fix it before April.

However, the team could not have been happier with the results. According to Gibson, the “tender descender”, which released a drogue parachute on the way up followed by a main parachute at an altitude of 300 feet, worked perfectly. This success meant that they were now ready to begin working on the final rocket.

“The whole process of the half-scale was a little bit sketchy because we were behind, but we ended up being alright,” Gibson said. “Everything happened that we needed to happen and it gave us a much-needed boost of confidence heading into the final rocket.”

Although the team is excited that their design is working, it wouldn’t mean much if they didn’t have the money to travel to Alabama. Luckily, senior business representative Justice DeLeon was on the case and raised about $5000 to cover all of the expenses. DeLeon is very pleased with everything that has happened so far in the project.

“This has truly been a great learning experience and has given me a great look into the field of engineering,” DeLeon said. “I hope everything keeps going smoothly so that we can showcase our brilliant payload down in Alabama in April.”

Matt Bishop, Sports Editor

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