The annual First Nations Launch

Congratulations to Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, headquartered at UW-Green Bay, on another successful rocket competition weekend. The Richard Bong State Recreation Area near Kenosha was the site of the annual state college competition and the second annual First Nations Launch. Final results won’t be known for weeks, until post-flight reports are filed by the various college teams.

In the First Nations national competition, teams represented Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet, Minn.; Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence, Kan.; Navajo Technical College, Crownpoint, N.M.; and Northwest Indian College, Bellingham, Wash. Additional schools with American Indian Science and Engineering Society chapters participating were Azuza Pacific University, Los Angeles; and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Teams test their engineering and “rocket science” skills, as their creations reach at least 2,000 feet in altitude, carry a payload of some sort, and/or perform a mission. The flight itself is judged mainly by the degree of accuracy with which the college students predict their rockets’ altitude, trajectory and flight path, as measured by tiny flight-data recorders. Interesting program – read more.