12-Color
12 Centennial Citizen
August 2, 2013
Students in United Launch Alliance’s summer internship program join mentors as well as others from the local aerospace community for a close-up look at an Atlas IV rocket during an open house held in Centennial. The 10-foot rocket was launched, along with its student-built payload, July 27 in Pueblo. Photos by Deborah Grigsby
STEM program reaches
new heights
Young scientists showcase studies with rocket launches Staff report
H
igh-powered sport rockets packed with student payloads soared thousands of feet above the plains of Pueblo as part of a student rocket launch hosted by United Launch Alliance and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. The July 27 event marked the culmination of an educational experience designed to simulate a real-life launch campaign, encouraging students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The launch featured three high-power sport rockets built by interns at ULA, including “Future” — the largest rocket to launch in Colorado. Ball interns created the five largest payloads, and K-12 students from Colorado and Alabama created 12 additional payloads. Payloads are onboard instruments and experiments that are deployed after launch. Working on their own time, the students designed, built and tested their respective rockets and payloads under the supervision and guidance of mentors from both companies. Approximately 60 interns and 30 mentors from ULA as well as 49 interns and 25 mentors from Ball participated this year. Among the lineup of rockets was the 25-foot-tall “Future,” which carried 14
An old launch panel dating back to the Cold War was repurposed by students participating in United Launch Alliance’s summer internship program. Created for use with ICBMs in the 1960s, the clunky box now launches student-built rockets carrying educational payloads.
Looking down the fuselage of “Future” can be dizzying. The 25-foot rocket was built by United Launch Alliance interns, including students from Centennial’s Eaglecrest High School. Future and two other student rockets were sent skyward along with payloads including cameras, altimeters, weather balloons and biodegradable glitter at a July 27 launch.
payloads to an altitude of approximately 9,000 feet above the ground. The “Stars ‘N’ Stripes” is a 17-foot rocket and carried two payloads, and the “Atlas IV,” at 10 feet tall, deployed a single payload. Ball interns designed, built and tested
the five largest payloads, including a fully equipped life support system carrying a crew of grasshoppers to a new home in Pueblo; a bio-friendly glitter bomb; a selfguided quad-copter; a wacky, wavy inflatable man; and a solar balloon with a surprise that should wow the audience, among many other sensors and cameras. Twelve K-12 student teams from five
schools in Colorado and Alabama also built payloads. Many incorporated parachutes, cameras and instruments including GPS, accelerometers and Geiger counters, and the student designers will use them to learn more about the environment, the atmosphere, descent velocities and even the best way to recharge AA batteries.
ON THE HORIZON
B OYS G O LF AUG 15
X C O U NT RY AU G 15
S O F TB A L L AUG 15
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B OYS T E N N I S AUG 2 2
B OYS S O CC ER AUG 22
VOL L E YB A L L AU G 2 2
F OO TB A L L AU G 2 9
FALLSPORTS 2013 PREVIEW