Great slow motion video filmed at 240 frames per second of Team Tesla's second launch on Saturday.  Flying on a K740 Cstar, the rocket rose to just over 5800ft because that rocket is a little lighter than their primary.  More launch videos and photos to com all week.

If you are a Rutters Rewards member, please login to their website and select Spring Grove Student Launch Initiative are you school charity.  We would then receive a donation for every purchase you make.

Planaria are small flatworms that have the amazing ability to regenerate.  If you cut one in half, they will both grow back into a whole worm again in about 2 weeks.  This weekend we cut 6 planaria in half and Team Darwin put them into their rocket and launched them to 4951ft and are testing to see if the flight will affect their regeneration.  The worms will be observed for the next two weeks and we will compare them to a control group.    Another launch video tomorrow.

Please try and visit our GoFundMe site and donate to support our teams and research.  https://www.gofundme.com/9edztfrk

​You can also foloow us now on Twitter at @sg_nasa_sl

Great high definition video from Team Tesla's second flight on a Cesaroni K570 Cstar. Close to 5400ft in altitude, we are getting ready for Huntsville.  We have now completed 13 full scale test flights with our 4 full scale rockets.  Come back all week for more photos and videos from this exciting NASA SLI trip.  #StudentLaunch #readyforhuntsville #TARC2016  

Some more photos from our most recent launch.  Many more launches scheduled this month as teams try to qualify for TARC Nationals.  The score entry deadline is April 4.  We will also hold flights in April for Nationals teams to practice in various wind conditions and for the two different heights possible at Nationals.  We are currently seeking sponsors for Nationals.  Please see the ad at the right to sponsor a team or rocket.

Please remember to register your Rutters Rewards card, log into the website and select "Spring Grove Student Launch Initiative"  under the "Rutters Rewards Schools" tab to choose our club as your charity.  Rutters will donate to us for every purchase that you make when you use your Rewards card.  Please spread the word to families and friends!

Wow, I didn't realize it has been 4 days since our last update.  Things have been very busy with TARC and SLI the past week.  We have had two TARC launches and are currently working on our FRR report and finishing up our full scale rockets for this weekend's SLI launch in Maryland.  Over the next few days I will be uploading many TARC photos and videos and then next Monday there should be updates from our SLI launch this weekend.

Thank you everyone for all of the support this year.  It has been amazing with the corporate grants and sponsorships as well as the private donations.  We couldn't do it without your help.  Check out our Sponsors page to see who has donated.  We are getting close to our fundraising goal, but need to finish strong.  We have a Paint Night scheduled for March 24, registration is due bye March 17.  We also have a Nuts About Granola sale, a healthy local snack.  Here are the order forms:
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If you would rather make a straight donation you may do so at our GoFundMe page at: https://www.gofundme.com/9edztfrk

Or print our this form and send it in with you check made payable to SGASD.  Large donations will be recognized by the school board and you will receive a receipt for tax purposes.  If there are any companies interested, we would be willing to put your logo on our website and our rocket, please contact me at [email protected].

After 10 years of participation in TARC, this Friday we recorded our lowest ever qualification flight.  In TARC a perfect score is 0, yesterday Adam's team scored a 1.00,  Perfect on the time and 849ft recorded height.  Here is the video of the launch.  He followed that flight with a score of 6.16.  His total qualifying score is a 7.16, smashing our lowest total score.  Great job!  On to Nationals!

For the first time ever, we are 3D printing a TARC fin can on our own 3D printer.  Recently we purchased a Lulzbot TAZ 5 printer from a grant and are trying it to print various parts.  While we don't have the capability of printing in Ultem, we are able to print in PLA.  We would like to thank our sponsor, TE Connectivity who have printed our SLI fin cans this year out of Ultem.  We would not have been able to have a printed fin an on our SLI rocket without your help!

Team America Rocketry Challenge, or TARC, is a nationwide competition of over 750 teams each year.  The requirements change every year.  This year the altitude to reach is 850ft, it needs to carry 2 large chicken eggs, and have a total flight time of 44-46 seconds.  The total rocket mass has to be under 650g and the impulse under 80Ns.  Qualification scores are due by April 4.  The top 100 teams will then be invited to a National Fly-off in May where the top 20 teams will be invited to submit a proposal for SLI next year and the top 10 teams will split over $60, 000 in prize money.  A Spring Grove team has placed in the top 10 three our of the past four year.  Last year we placed 8th and 13th at Nationals and that permitted us to enter two teams in SLI this year.  There is a TARC page above that will be update throughout this month with photos, videos, and score updates.  If you are interested in sponsoring a TARC team please contact me at [email protected]

Today's Crummel's Classroom featured our NASA Student Launch Initiative teams.  Check out the video here.  Very nice segment.  Check it out.  Tomorrow I will have some TARC rocket launch videos for you.  Much more to come!

The graphs above show the data that we are able to download from from the altimeters in the rocket.  The Graph is altitude vs. time and shows the ascent, first ejection with separation for the smaller drogue parachute, and then the second ejection with the separation for the much larger main parachute.  D on the graph is the drogue ejection and M were for the main parachute ejection.  The slope of the graph shows how fast the rocket was falling.  After the main chute ejected, we were seeing a descent rate of roughly 16 ft/s.

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