Starbase Update: Captain's Log 4.8.09

Due to technical difficulties and operator error, all the image data from today's launch operation is overexposed. However, the images are still sufficient for conveying the general atmostphere of the events.

Sly was one of approximately 20 homeschoolers included with the base school's elementary 5th graders in today's rocket launches. Ordinarily DoD Starbase is for a limited number of public school students in 5th grade from the surrounding counties. However due to state testing requirements, there was an open week at Starbase and the director elected to offer the week to the base students and even the homeschoolers on base. Pretty darn awesome!

Here, Sly is pressurizing his rocket in preparation for launch. The rockets were made in part from soda bottles and paper towel tubes. They were launched from PVC launch pads using water and air pressure for propulsion.

Here Sly has 'taken a knee' and is awaiting the group countdown to launch. Four students launched rockets at one time. Sly participated in Space Camp a year ago, Aviation Challenge a couple weeks ago, and now Starbase. He says that Starbase is way cool because they are covering a lot more science than Space Camp did, which covered a lot about the history of the space exploration. I heard that the students at Starbase covered 6 weeks worth of physics education standards yesterday. At that rate, they're basically covering a school year's worth of physics in a week! And the kids are 'getting' it too, as was evidenced by their enthusiastic participation in today's launch event and by the kids' narrating to us parents explanations of what they learned at Starbase during the day. Today, I was told by one of the kids, was Newton's three Laws of Motion.

Here Sly is recovering his rocket after a successful launch. Some of the kids' rockets came down pretty hard and bent or broke on landing. This happens often (no parachutes for these rockets!), and the kids were warned that their they would break. Sly was happy to discover that his rocket was one that survived, a fact especially sweet since his rocket at Space Camp last year was one of the few that didn't survive!

If you too want to build a water rocket and launcher, I have good news for you. Sly and his grandpa actually did this as a fun project a couple years ago. There are MANY sets of directions on the internet for such contraptions. Here's just one from a quick search on yahoo. Remember if you decide to do this: Safety First!!!