It IS Rocket Science: Colo. Students To Launch Projects [WATCH]

BOULDER, CO – A rocket launch next weekend over southeastern Colorado will have lots of young eyes watching as student STEM projects from across the state shoot up into the air inside one of five rockets that will splash down in a Colorado lake.

The launch will be the 10th anniversary of the STEM education partnership between Boulder-based Ball Aerospace and Centennial's United Launch Alliance (ULA). The 2018 Student Rocket Launch will be held July 14 at Lake Meredith, Colorado southeast of Pueblo.

Since 2008, both space companies have been working with interns and school children to develop onboard objects, experiments of instruments that may deploy from the rocket, otherwise known as "payloads."

This year, ULA's Future Heavy SS rocket – short for "Future Heavy Super Sport" – will launch 36 student payloads, with 15 competing to win up to $5,000 by "designing a craft to return to a pre-appointed location near the launch," the contest rules say.

"Ball's [intern] program and the ULA rocket launch offer our interns a unique real-world opportunity to collaborate with mentors to bring a design idea from concept to launch," said Rob Strain, president of Ball Aerospace in a statement. "Our Ball interns represent a diverse group of students from 42 universities who are pursuing careers in STEM fields, which are critical to the aerospace industry in the U.S. as well as our local Colorado community."

Here are the Colorado and New Mexico K-12 schools and organizations participating in the 2018 Student Rocket Launch (*denotes a payload project competing for the grand prize):

• Boulder High School (Boulder, CO):
  • Bullet Boat*
  • Orobotics Brothers*
• Eagleview Middle School (Colorado Springs, CO):
  • Mechanical Actuator
  • Pressure/Temperature Monitor
• Girl Scouts of Fox Ridge Middle School (Aurora, CO): Celebration of Explorer 1
• Green Mountain High School (Lakewood, CO): The Gassy Can*
• Lakewood High School (Lakewood, CO):
  • Ad Astra Super Alas Per Arduino*
  • Tardigrades, the heftiest organisms*
• Laredo Middle School (Aurora, CO): Lions01*
• Monarch High School (Lafayette, CO): Droney McDroneface*
• Mountain Vista High School (Highlands Ranch, CO):
  • Plants Under 10 Gs of Force
  • Egg Goes Up to Space
  • Oobleck Rocket Payload
  • The Pill*
• Peak to Peak Charter (Boulder, CO):
  • Heart of the Gold(ish)
  • Walkie-Talkie Challenge
  • ASDS
  • Winner Winner Chicken Dinner*
  • Paraglider Positioning Auto Pilot (PPAP)*
• Ralston Valley High School (Arvada, CO):
  • Gliders Extreme
  • Mr. Flappy*
• Smoky Hill Area Robotics Club (SHARC) (Aurora, CO): MARVIn2
• STEM School Highlands Ranch (Highlands Ranch, CO):
  • Welcome Home
  • Bon Voyage*
• Warren Tech (Lakewood, CO): Habrok*

New Mexico

• Civil Air Patrol – Santa Fe Composite Squadron (Santa Fe, NM): Autonomous Emergency Delivery System*

The launch is open to the public and begins at 8 a.m., when viewers can see the Future Heavy Super Sport rocket on the launch pad up close. At 10 a.m. visitors will be cleared from the launch pad and the launches will begin.

The complete schedule is here.

Image via ULA

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