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The 2009 launch marked Sheboygan’s thirteenth successful annual launch. 60 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 their group efforts.
On Friday, May 15, 2009, NASA Astronaut Mark Lee delivered a speech about his experiences in space, followed by a question and answer period regarding his experiences onboard his 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 observing NASA exhibits, taking the controls of computer animated flight simulations, seeing an astronomy show, watching robotics demonstrations and witnessing a rocket engine ignite. Students also had an opportunity to see exhibits at the Armory, which houses the Great Lakes Aerospace and Science Education Center.
On Saturday, May 16th, 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-II rockets climbed approximately 5,000 feet. The high winds on Saturday prevented us from launching all of the Class-II rockets. These teams were given the opportunity to launch their rocket over the summer at the Richard Bong State Park. Launches were handled by the Tripoli Rocket Association. The special launches were also cancelled. As part of a Passport to Education 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 – Sheboygan County 4H – Girls Rock-ets
2nd place – Lake Zurich Middle School – SRB’s Super Rocket Buddies
3rd place – Horace Mann – Controlled Chaos
Class II rockets:
1st place – Iron Mountain – Mountaineer Rocketeers II Helios
1st place – Kromrey Middle School – Team Sting
3rd place – THRUST – Blue Moon Crew
Again 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.
Past launch information: 2008 / 2007 / 2006 / 2005 / 2004 / 2003
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