WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. (September 8, 2022) On Saturday, June 25, Col. Shawanta Smart, Commander of White Sands Test Center hosted SystemsGo and its participating high school teams for their annual rocket launches on White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). SystemsGo is an innovative high school rocketry and aeroscience program that uses project-based learning to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Students also learn to develop professional and leadership skills and are supported in pursuing careers in engineering industries. Schools participating in the WSMR launches this year included Alamo Heights High School, Union Grove High School, Fredericksburg High School and Brazoswood High School.
“I am excited. We have four local high schools from Texas gathering over 125 students and personnel here today. Providing White Sands Missile Range as a testing site for their rockets is an opportunity for students to have hands-on STEM related curriculum in their school programs. Today they get to show off to their parents what they have been working so hard on for the past four years and see what they could become in the future as an engineer,” said Smart.
SystemsGo is certified by The Space Foundation and is implemented in high schools across Texas, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Colorado. Graduates that come from this program often move on to work in leadership positions at NASA, SpaceX, Boeing, and other prestigious organizations and schools across the country.
“We’ve been working on our current rocket since August, and I have personally been working in this program for the past two years. What I liked the most about this program is that it helped me understand what I wanted to do after high school. I will be going to Lamar University to study mechanical engineering. I love to problem solve and that is what mechanical engineers do,” said Kennedi Gordy, from Union Grove High School.
“Students have been testing their rockets here on White Sands Missile Range with SystemsGo since 1999. The range provides radar, communications, optics, range control and real time support to facilitate these students’ rocket launches. It is important to provide real world experience to young students who are interested in this field so that they understand what a real test facility does to test rockets,” said Rene Plancarte, Test Officer for the Material Test Directorate.
Brazoswood High School set a new world record for altitude achieved by a student-built, hybrid-motor propelled rocket reaching 45,482 feet above ground level, beating Fredericksburg High School’s record of 36,100 feet and earning them the Kepler Award. “This is a big moment for all of us, probably one of the biggest in the lives of these students,” said Chris McLeod, one of the SystemsGo teachers at Brazoswood High School. Union Grove and Fredericksburg High Schools also achieved successful launches earning them the Newton Award for launches of up to 12,500 feet.
For more information on SystemsGo, including learning how to start a program, please visit: www.systemsgo.org
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