Participating students are typically graduating seniors that build and design their rockets from scratch throughout the school year.
Source: U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range (via Facebook)
Photos by Chris Bohn for WSMR: Courtesy
Cover Photo Caption: Students from Alamo Heights School, wearing blue/teal, launched one rocket. Students from Brazoswood School, wearing red, launched two separate rockets. Additional schools were also present and were able to launch rockets.
White Sands Test Center hosted SystemsGo and its participating high school teams for their annual rocket launches on White Sands Missile Range June 12 and 13.
“WSMR has been hosting SystemsGo since 1999. It is a great platform for the students to get hands on experience on a real test range,” said Rene Plancarte, WSMR General Engineer.
SystemsGo is an innovative high school rocketry and aeroscience program that uses project-based learning to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The program is certified by The Space Foundation and is implemented in high schools across Texas, New Mexico, Oregon and Colorado.
Participating students are typically graduating seniors that build and design their rockets from scratch throughout the school year. After completion, they come to WSMR to test their rockets.
Schools participating in the WSMR launches this year included the following high schools: Alamo Heights, Brazoswood, Fredericksburg, Union Grove, Ranchview, Anahuac, and Hardin Jefferson.
WSMR’s Warheads Test Group planned and executed the test, with support from Optics, Radar, Range Control, VI, EOD and Commo.
Alamo Heights, Brazoswood, and Fredericksburg all had successful launches. The rocket launches took place at ABC-1, and Test Conducting/Student Viewing was at Tula G Blockhouse.
Plancarte said the purpose of the SystemsGo event is to host the annual launch of student-designed and built research rockets. This long-standing program, operational at WSMR since 1999, provides a critical platform for hands-on STEM education. Students launch unguided, hybrid-fueled rockets from ABC-1 with a target altitude of 60,000 feet MSL, allowing them to gain invaluable experience in aerospace engineering and test various research payloads.
Plancarte said that the Warheads Test Group Test Officer starts working with SystemsGo personnel early in the year to plan the test. They then obtain approval and all supporting range elements to support the test dates.
“SystemsGo is 100 percent institutional, therefore it is important to obtain approval prior to test dates. The test is conducted by government personnel,” Plancarte said. “Warheads Test Group also executes the test by providing a Test Conductor, Pad Chief and Roadblock personnel. We also set up ABC-1 and Tula G for the tests.”
Graduates that come from this program often move on to work in leadership positions at NASA, SpaceX, Boeing, and other prestigious organizations and schools across the country. Students learn to develop professional and leadership skills and are supported in pursuing careers in engineering industries.
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