Rocketry camp powers through weather delays

PALMER— Windy conditions and spotty showers might have stalled Friday afternoon’s rocket launches, but it didn’t cancel them.

University of Alaska Anchorage’s (UAA) College of Engineering hosted rocketry class as part of its Summer Engineering Academies; a series of week-long, hands-on instructional sessions for students grades 5-12. Each academy is designed to encourage interest and provide exposure to Alaska’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) program meant to expose school-age students to the fields. The event, sponsored by BP, provided students exposure to robotics, rocketry, wing aerodynamics, advanced structures, shaking buildings, coding, and alternative energy.

Most of the sessions were hosted at the UAA campus. Two were conducted in the Mat-Su including one on introduction to rocketry that just wrapped up at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Matanuska Experiment Farm. The academy allowed students grades 6-8 an opportunity to use a combination of kits and individual components to design and build a model rocket.

The session was scheduled to conclude Friday but because wind conditions at the farm were too severe, launches were scattered as conditions died down. Organizers also decided to continue the event on Saturday if the budding engineers wanted to hold off. After a half-hour delay Friday, a test rocket was fired. Engineers and family and friends that came to watch thought things were a go.

Again weather delays put countdowns on hold as participants were quickly assembling and prepping for the launch pad. How many rocketeers were able to launch their crafts wasn’t known by press deadline.

Prior to the actual rocket build, participants learned about rocket motors, aerodynamics, structural integrity, and payloads. They used software for assembling and sizing the rocket and its motor. Launch and recovery procedures and safety around rockets was also covered during the week.

The first Mat-Su academy “Water, Water Everywhere” was held in late June. Participants in grades 6-8 were educated on the element’s properties, behavior, movement and phases. They also learned how humans interact with the element, how engineers control it and the effects of exposure to pressure and heat. In hands-on experiments, youth conducted into how various forces cause water movement, and focused on harnessing water’s power for the benefit of humans.