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Explorer Post 1010 Engineering Exploring Program The American Rocketry Challenge 2023 |
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Explorer Post 1010 Engineering Exploring Program The American Rocketry Challenge 2023 |
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Explorer Post 1010 registered two teams in the 2023 The American Rocketry Challenge (TARC). The main web site is https://rocketcontest.org/. The challenge is described in the 2023 Rules. This is a year-round activity. We recruited new members in the fall of 2022 and started to design and build our competition rockets. During the winter and spring of 2023 we tested our rockets. We must complete three qualification flights for each team by April 3, 2023 to be invited to the national fly-off in May 2023. TARC adds the scores of the two best qualification launches. The cutoff for 2022 was 37.06. The finals are for the top 100 teams from registered teams across the US.
In the fall 2022 we started with five members from the previous year. We recruited five new members and created two teams. To be on a team you must be a dues paying member of Post 1010 and have your parents sign the TARC permission form. Members may switch teams until the first qualification flight in 2023. Members must participate in designing, building, and launching to remain on a team. We meet during normal Exploring Program general meetings for work sessions. Test launches are usually on Saturdays, Sundays, and other days when school is out. Each team will build several rockets, including test rockets and backups for their best models. We document our activities and results on these web pages.
Due to our TARC ranking in 2021 and 2022, the Post was invited to submit a proposal to participate in the NASA sponsored Student Launch Initiative in September, 2022. Our proposal was not accepted, but we received helpful comments to consider in future proposals. We then decide to enter a team in the Rockets for Schools program. We built a rocket from a kit provided by the program, and designed and built a payload experiment. We flew it in Sheboygan, Wisconsin off the shore of lake Michigan on the morning of May 13, 2023. (More)
Qualification Flight Reports 2023 Team 23-2746 - Q1 (56.24), Q2 (20.52), Q3 (11.64) = 32.16 Team 23-2963- Q1 (DQ), Q2 (DQ) = no invite Team 23-2746 was invited to the TARC Finals held on May 20 at Great Meadows. The cut-off for the invitation (the top 100 teams) was 35.00. Finals Flight Reports 2023 Finals Attendee Information, Launch Assignments, Briefing and Final Teams. Team 2746 first flight at the finals was for a target of 875ft and a time between 44 and 46 seconds. They reached an altitude of 873ft and a time of 47sec, for a score of 7.76. They were ranked 4th. Their second flight was for a target of 825ft and a time between 41 and 44 seconds. They reached an altitude of 804ft and a time of 53 seconds, for a score of 58.52. It was a very warm and humid, making descent take too long. Team 2746 was ranked 19th overall with a combined score from the two flights of 66.28. Finals Results Spreadsheet, Finals Awards
Wind speed is a big problem for our rockets, so before we launch we check http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/code.cgi (Manassas, Frederick). The Weather Channel is another source for weather at the The Plains and Walkersville. When we launch in strong wind, our biggest concern is the loss of our rocket in the trees. We have plotted out launch limit maps for Pike Park and Meadows launch sites. We always need parents to drive to the launch sites. Participants should bring money for lunch or bring food when we are out all day. Wear appropriate clothing. Schedules can change at the last minute due to weather, so keep watching this web site, your email, and call if unsure.
Heritage Farm Park, Walkersville, Maryland (map, picture) 9236 Devilbiss Bridge Rd, Walkersville, MD 21793. (39.49n,-77.34w,320a). Park information at https://www.walkersvillemd.gov/parks-recreation/slideshows/heritage-farm-park. Great Meadow, The Plains, Virginia (directions, field map, picture). NOVAAR runs the launch. Their calendar is at https://novaar.org/drupal7/. This is the site of the National Fly-off. (38.83n,-77.81w,580a) Tripoli Central Virginia Rocketry Club, (TCV), Culpeper, Virginia (map, picture). Their web site is https://battlepark.org/. (38.40n,-78.06w,420a) Maryland Delaware Rocketry Association, (MRDA), Eastern Shore, Maryland. Their web site is https://mdrocketry.org. They have two launch sites - Central Sod Farms, Centreville, MD (https://mdrocketry.org/central-sod-farm/) (39.00n,-76.10w,65a) and Higgs Farm, Price, MD (https://mdrocketry.org/higgs-farm/). (39.08n,-75.87w,55a) Old National Pike Park, east of New Market, Frederick County Maryland (directions, picture). NARHAMS runs the launch. Their launch calendar is at http://www.narhams.org/. Charles Town West Virginia, Oakland Church Field, west of Harpers Ferry (picture), run by the Blue Ridge Rocketeers.
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Explorer Post 1010 Updated: August 24, 2024 |
