CONTEST EMAIL ARCHIVES
Date: 05/17/2006
Subject: Ready for Liftoff?
Ready for Liftoff?
Last update: May 16, 2006 - 10:24 PM
The 'Rocket Team' at Apple Valley High is pinning its hopes on two rockets, a long and soaring flight and one intact egg.
Elena Rozwadowski, Star Tribune
If the weather is right, Mr. Michels' physics students can be found in the middle of the baseball fields behind Apple Valley High School every Tuesday afternoon.
They aren't playing catch.
These 13 students, known around the school as the "Rocket Team," are preparing for the Team America Rocketry Challenge championship launch this month in Virginia.
The team had the best score in last month's state competition, giving Apple Valley one of 100 spots at the national championships Saturday.
"This is a tough challenge and they've done really well," said Neil Michels, the team's adviser.
Apple Valley is one of four Minnesota teams to qualify for the finals.
The others are last year's national champions from the Dakota County 4-H federation in Farmington, Maranatha Christian in Brooklyn Park and Kimball Area High School.
Don't break the egg
This will be Apple Valley's fourth appearance at nationals. Last year, the team placed 75th after its rocket's engine exploded on the launch pad.
"They tried to piece it back together, but it didn't fly very well," Michels said.
That's why, this year, the team is bringing two rockets to the nationals.
Each rocket is supposed to fly 800 feet and have a total flight time of 45 seconds. To make things more difficult, the rocket has to carry an egg that must be unbroken at the end of the flight.
Points are determined by how close to the height and time standards a team's rocket comes.
It's the first year on the team for some members, like junior Kristen Nelson.
"I love math and science," she said. She said she joined the team because she wants to work for NASA some day. "I've enjoyed building the rockets and seeing how the launches work."
Other team members are back for a second run because of last's year's launch-pad mishap.
"I'll probably do it again," said sophomore Rick Vanderhulst. "I just want to do better than last year."
Starting with simulations
Whatever their reasons for joining, the students are working toward a single goal: the perfect flight.
They began working on their rocket in September. Instead of jumping right in with the cardboard tubes and balsawood fins, they worked with a computer simulation program that allowed them to build and test different rockets without using a single nail or screw.
In fact, the rockets weren't built until two months after the team started.
Each simulated rocket went through 15 or 20 test runs. Then the team had to tweak the design and test it again. They built the rocket that came closest to the perfect flight in computer simulations.
"Every little detail has to be perfect," said mentor Ted Cochran, a rocketry industry professional who works for Honeywell. "Even one flight sequence failure can screw it all up."
The first launch was back in December. Each week since then, the students have used the simulations to help them modify the rockets for different weather conditions.
Duties are divided among the team's members.
"Each person does a different part, depending on what they like," said senior Amy Friedrichs. She said that she and a few other students have worked mostly with the computer simulator, while a few of the guys on the team have done a lot of the building.
"In the end, it all comes together," Friedrichs said.
Elena Rozwadowski is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.
©2006 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
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