The 2008 launch marked Sheboygan's twelfth successful annual launch. 59 sixth through 12th grade student teams from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois were involved in the rocket launch at the Blue Harbor Conference Center. In the months leading up to the launch, student teams designed and built scale model rockets along with their scientific payloads. Teams also developed a presentation, mission patch, and display detailing group efforts.
On Friday, May 9, 2008, NASA Astronaut Winston Scott delivered a speech about his experiences in space, followed by a question and answer period regarding his experiences onboard two space missions. Throughout the day, student teams delivered presentations to a panel of judges as part of the competition while experts evaluated the students’ rockets. Some students even took part in releasing and tracking a video balloon.
Students participated in a number of activities including viewing informational videos onboard the NASA bus, observing NASA exhibits, taking the controls of computer animated flight simulations, seeing an astronomy show in an inflatable planetarium, watching robotics demonstrations, and witnessing a rocket engine ignite. Students also had an opportunity to build and launch paper rockets and see exhibits at the Armory, which houses the Great Lakes Aerospace and Science Education Center.
On Saturday, May 10, students were involved in recovery, tracking, mission control, or video production. As part of the rocket launch activities, Class-1 rockets soared to more than 2,500 feet while Class-2 rockets climbed approximately 4,500 feet. The rocket launches occurred on schedule throughout the day, and even included specialty rockets built and launched from Tripoli Rocket Association. Special launches also took place with the U.S. Coast Guard, the City of Sheboygan, Space Explorers, Inc. and THRUST Rocket Team. As part of a Passport Book activity, students collected stamps from the exhibitors for taking part in an educational activity. Afterwards, students who filled up their passports were entered into a drawing to win prizes. The day concluded with an awards ceremony, honoring the teams who received the top scores in the craftsmanship of their rocket, payload, presentation, and display. The top teams included:
Class I rockets:
| 1st place | Eastern Wisconsin Home School - EWHS Rocket Team |
| 2nd place | 4H / Girl Scouts - Girls Rock-ets |
| 3rd place | THRUST Middle School - Blue Moon Crew |
Class II rockets:
| 1st place | Maplewood School - Newt's Force |
| 2nd place | Denmark Middle School - Open Sesame |
| 3rd place | Columbus High School - Columbus High School Team II |
For the first time this year, teachers and mentors from the top Class II teams were invited to participate in NASA’s Student Launch Initiative following the Rockets for Schools event.
View pictures from the 2008 launch event
2008 event schedule
More details about the 2008 launch
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