SAN ANTONIO – After months of drawing, designing, researching and building a rocket, Alamo Heights High School seniors are ready to soar.
“It’s all about problem solving. It’s all about critical thinking,” said Colin Lang, aerospace studies teacher at Alamo Heights High School.
Students built a rocket that is about 20 feet long and weighs over 300 pounds when fueled.
Later this month, they will be traveling to White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico for a launch.
“Systems Go is the entity that created this program that we are all a part of, and there’s eight schools across Texas that are the level we are doing. Only three of them are actually going to be going this year because this is hard to do,” Lang said.
Since 2012, students have been going to New Mexico for the launch. This team hopes to break their record and have the rocket travel up 50,000 feet.
Students worked with different professionals, including mathematicians and engineers, for this project.
“We are really, really fortunate of all the contacts we have in our community. NASA is one of the biggest ones. We have students who are working there and they come back and help,” Lang said.
Lang said the program provides students with different opportunities.
Jacob Andrews and his classmates spent countless hours working on this project.
“It’s taken a lot of grit and dedication for all of us,” Andrews said.
Andrews hopes to continue using the skills he learned in his future career.
“I for sure want to keep working with machines and do hands on engineering work,” Andrews said.