Posted by Howard Richman on May 13 2008 at 10:02:15:
Here is a selection from the story in the Sheboygan (WI) Press:
For more info about the program, go to the "Rockets for Schools" website.Squinting into the mid-day sun and bracing against the wind, hundreds of spectators craned their necks simultaneously as the rocket shrieked and cut a smoky plume skyward....
[There were] a record 60 rockets launched 2,000 feet above Blue Harbor Resort and Conference Center over the weekend in the culmination of the 12th annual Rockets for Schools. The event drew 42 teams from Wisconsin — including 10 from Sheboygan County — as well as 16 from Illinois and two from Michigan. There were 46 teams last year....
Student teams over the last few months designed and built the 6- and 8-foot rockets and payloads. Saturday, they launched the rockets and helped out in support roles, which included running mission control and retrieving the rockets from Lake Michigan (with an assist from the U.S. Coast Guard).
"A lot of these kids, they don´t have access to big science departments … so this is their chance to do their science," said Russ Olp, adviser for the Eastern Wisconsin Homeschool Association team. "We teach them what they need to know to do it, but they do it all."
The group — from Manitowoc and Kewaunee counties — won first place in their division with a rocket that launched a Nintendo Wii controller into the air so its built-in accelerometer could measure the level of vibration....
Howard