A team of AEM and ME students won the AISES (American Indian
Society of Engineers and Scientists) Second Annual First Nations Rocket Launch
Competition sponsored by NASA and The Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium. The
competition was held at the Richard Bong Recreation area south of Milwaukee on
May 7, 2011. The U of MN Team, called the Northstars, was sponsored by the
Minnesota Space Grant Consortium. The objective of the competition was to
design, build, fly, and recover a high powered model rocket so that the
altitude at apogee was as close to 5280 ft as possible. The U of MN rocket,
Spirit Dancer, achieved an altitude of 5169 feet as measured by an onboard
altimeter. The students used deployable air brakes actuated by an altimeter to
achieve the desired altitude.
Team members were AEM students Mark Abotossaway, John Carlson,
David Coveyou, Tyler Kelley, and Andy Komisarek and ME student Chris Herbst.
Faculty Sponsor was Bill Garrard. Mark, Andy, and Chris traveled to the
competition as did Prof. Garrard. Participation in future competitions is
planned.
Actual
footage from the 2011 AISES Rocket Launch is available at Youtube:
Mark A.,Andy K., and Chris H. assembling rocket prior
to launch
Dan Hawk, Director of the First Nations
Competition, inspecting the rocket with Mark A., Andy K. and Chris H.