JHS Rocketry Team reviewed at NASA
By John Earp
Last month, the Jal High School Rocketry Team traveled to Houston, Texas, to visit NASA. Ten JHS students traveled for the purpose of Flight Profile Reviews with engineers at NASA. The students created a mathematical profile or simulation of their rocket launching using Excel and “a whole bunch of math,” according to JHS Rocketry Teacher, Mr. Nathan Richard. The group was made up of two teams, one working on rocket that would surpass the speed of sound (Olberth), and one working on a rocket that was designed to surpass Mach 1.3 (Von Braun). Richard said both teams gave excellent presentations and came away with a few things to work on, which they have already been working on. On December 4th, the team will travel to Artesia to make presentations before SystemsGo New Mexico engineers, again, for further improvements. Superintendent Brian Snider traveled with the rocketry team to Houston as well.
Richard said the engineers that do the flight profile reviews in New Mexico are very good, but the experience with the NASA engineers, which includes a private, behind-the-scenes tour including climbing into the shuttle simulator, sitting in the cockpit, etc., exposes them to teams that are very experienced. By the time they get done at Houston, they will have learned so much that they can actually help teach other schools’ rocketry students. “We’re very blessed to have really great kids, really smart kids here in Jal, and generally on launch day here in New Mexico, our students are able to sit down with students from other schools and teach them. I think that’s a great experience for our kids, and they really get to show out during those times, but I wouldn’t want them to miss the opportunity to sit down and learn from other students from other places, and going to NASA really affords us that opportunity,” said Richard. Rocketry students are required to fabricate many of the parts of their rockets, added Richard.
Odaliz Mendoza, a senior, has been very involved in the Rocketry program this year. She is part of the Von Braun group. The most exciting part of going to Houston was “getting to go to NASA. Getting to see how rockets and people working together to really create these rockets that go into outer space.” Odaliz says what she finds appealing about rocketry is, “getting into details and knowing how little specifications make a rocket launch, getting to know how to calculate formulas on a computer to simulate how a rocket actually works, what kind of numbers you need, and tools to build this rocket and launch it. Of course, there are challenges to it. Getting to work with a team and you get to solve a lot of things together. That’s what really brings the Jal Rocket system together, getting to work with others and figure out mathematical problems.” Mendoza says being involved in Rocketry has helped her learn life skills and problem solving. She plans to become a registered dental assistant after high school. Using formulas to develop the rocket has been a challenge, says Mendoza, which is all for the purpose of perfecting their rocket to the extent possible. The Von Braun rocket must not exceed 15,000 ft in altitude. Mendoza says her experience has been lifechanging for her, and is thankful to Coach Richard for encouraging her to be a part of the program.
