Everyone has heard of either Estes motors or Estes rockets.  This weekend we met Vern and Gleda Estes that started the company 60 years ago!  Vern was working in the construction and fireworks business and saw in the paper many incidents where kids were either hurt or killed by their own attempts to make a model rocket fly.  He devised a method and a machine, "Mabel", to produced compacted black powder rocket motors.  The motors were reliable and safe for kids to fly across the United States.  A rocket kit and two motors could be ordered by mail in 1961 for $1.  For the full story, click on the blue button below to read the story "All About Mabel" that was featured in Sport Rocketry.
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Vern and Gleda are a very nice couple.  They posed for photos and signed autographs all three days of the launch.  At the banquet, they shared the story about the beginning of the company.  That story was recorded and will be release on The Rocketry Show podcast.  The National Sport Launch in Geneseo, NY was a great experience for the whole team!

The Trident rocket from NASA SLI 2017 returned to action in Geneseo, NY and rose to an altitude of 5196ft on a CTI K661 Blue Streak motor. It was a beautiful launch.  The team was the closest to a mile on Saturday and Sunday of the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) National Sport Launch (NSL).  Congratulations team! 

The high-powered rocketry team is attending the NSL this weekend in Geneseo, NY.  The trip is partially funded through a grant from the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium.  The rest of the funding came from donations and fund-raisers.  Thank you to all that have supported the teams this year.  This is an amazing opportunity for us and it will be the first time that we have had the opportunity to attend the NSL.

​Register your card on the Rutters website to be a VIP member.  As a VIP member, you get special deals each month when using the Rutters Rewards card with purchases.  Login to the website using your phone number and pass code.  Once logged into the website, click on the far right "Rutters Rewards Schools" tab an on the next screen select "Spring Grove Rocket Scientists", then select "support selected charity" on the bottom of the screen.  Once selected, a percentage of your purchase, every time you use your card will be donated to our program.  You will not get charged anything, Rutters will just make a donation towards our group.  Why go anywhere else?

The third and final team featured in this segment placed the highest of any Spring Grove team this year 47th, at TARC Nationals.  The team also participated in the rocket building competition, showing their creativity by building  rocket that featured a tiny rover in it that was visible from the outside through a clear section.

One of our two high school teams attending TARC Nationals.  This was our smallest team at only 3 students, including 2 seniors.  Their launch at Nationals was much higher for some reason than any of their practice launches, which is really frustrating.  Great work team and good luck in the future.

For the first time, Spring Grove had a Middle School team advance to TARC Nationals.  The whole team consisted of 7th graders, which was amazing!  So proud of these students and can't wait to see what they accomplish in the future.

On Friday, the team took part in the Rockets on the Hill event in Washington, DC.  The teams displayed and talked about their rockets to members of the Senate and representatives from their offices.  We were invited to Senator Toomey's office and were able to explain about the importance of STEM education in PA as well as other matters.  Proud to represent Spring Grove and PA at this event!

Today we pack and leave for TARC Nationals.  It has been a long journey since we received the rules at TARC Nationals 2017.  Safe travels everyone and see you at the Rockets on the Hill event tomorrow or on Saturday!  

The video below shows exactly what happens to a TARC rocket launch in the wind.  The movement of the smoke after the launch shows you the direction of the wind.

Always open to learning new techniques, this spring we have started to daisy chain our shock cords for high powered launches.  Not only does the shock cord fit in the body tube more easily,  when the daisy chain pulls apart at drogue and main parachute ejections, the two halves of the rocket slow down gradually as they separate.  We tested this strategy on an 11lb and 56lb rockets in April, and both worked amazingly well!  Thank you Downingtown High School NASA SLI team for the great idea!  

TARC NATIONAL FINALS LAUNCH WINDOWS: Spring Grove Area School District teams will launch at the following windows at TARC finals (May 12, 2018):
* Goddard 1 (08:15AM-09:15AM) -> Team 1 - The Middle School team - Team captain Dylan
* Goddard 3 (10:00AM-11:00AM) -> Team 2 - High School team 1 - Team captain Carson
* Goddard 5 (11:45AM-12:30PM) -> Team 3  - High School team 2 - Team captain Adam

The launch is open to the public and will be held at The Great Meadow in The Plains, VA (near Manassas).  Come down and support the teams.