Parachutes, tail fins, and lots of glue.
So, off we went, to MIT at 9 AM, Saturday June 16, 2001. It was a beautiful (but rather hot and muggy) day. We listened to some lectures about Newton's laws, orbital mechanics, and space history. We learned the locations of 35-225, 33-419, and 33-319.... (Which is harder, space exploration or finding your way around MIT?) Then came the rocket building part!
Two rockets per table. Troops 10 & 13 of Needham worked hard on theirs... (Click on the pictures if you want the original, full-resolution picture - some are pretty big, though...)
Parachutes, tail fins, and lots of glue.
Let's see, what's next?
We worked in the bottom floor of Building 33. Or was it 35?
Advice was always available...
After lunch we had a neat presentation on Liquid Nitrogen, designed our own space stations, learned about careers in space exploration.
You can see all the rockets, all the people, getting settled in on Briggs
Field for an afternoon of launching.
Milling about seems to play a big role.
We got really good at milling about. But everyone had a job. The launch team
launched, the rocket recovery teams shagged rockets, and the spectators, well,
they milled about.
Sitting on the launch pad, ready for count down... "Armed!!", 5, 4...
3, 2, 1... whooooosh!
Where did it go?
Happiness is a working parachute.
Sometimes, you get the rocket back in recognizable pieces.
Sometimes you just have to investigate the remains.
A quick picture and we're off to Toscanini's for ice cream!
Thanks, MIT Mars Society, for the great day!