Rocket Week Launching at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility

June 12, 2012


Ann Marie Trotta
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1601
ann.marie.trotta@nasa.gov

Keith Koehler
Wallops Flight Facility, Va.
757-824-1579
keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov

Chris Koehler
Colorado Space Grant Consortium, Boulder
303-492-3141
koehler@colorado.edu

RELEASE: 12-195

ROCKET WEEK LAUNCHING AT NASA'S WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY

WASHINGTON -- Students and educators from across the country will
experience what it is like to be a rocket scientist during "Rocket
Week," June 16-22, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops
Island, Va.

More than 100 participants will receive hands-on training in building
payloads for spaceflight, learn the basics of rocketry and develop
activities for the classroom through the fifth annual RockOn!
workshop for university-level participants and the concurrent second
annual Wallops Rocket Academy for Teachers and Students (WRATS) for
high school teachers.

"RockOn and WRATS provide a unique experience for students, faculty
and teachers to understand the importance of a sounding rocket
suborbital launch and the value of science that is collected," said
Joyce Winterton, senior advisor for education and leadership
development at Wallops. "Both opportunities demonstrate the practical
application of science, technology, engineering and mathematics."

About 40 participants will build standardized experiments that will
fly on a NASA Terrier-Improved Orion suborbital sounding rocket set
to launch between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. EDT June 21. The 35-foot-tall
rocket is expected to fly to an altitude of about 75 miles. After
launch and payload recovery, the participants will conduct
preliminary data analysis and discuss their results.

In addition to the nine workshop-built experiments, eight custom-built
experiments also will fly on the rocket inside a payload canister
known as RockSat-C. These experiments were developed at universities
that previously participated in a RockOn! workshop.

The WRATS program gives high school teachers a technical flight
experience to reinforce science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) concepts they teach in their classrooms. During
the week, 13 teachers from 12 states will learn about the dynamics of
rocketry and the science gained from suborbital sounding rockets.
They also will attend the June 21 sounding rocket launch.

The programs continue NASA's investment in the nation's education
programs by supporting the goal of attracting and retaining students
in STEM disciplines critical to future space exploration.

RockOn! is conducted in coordination with the Colorado and Virginia
Space Grant consortia. Supported by the National Space Grant College
and Fellowship Program in NASA's Office of Education, it is designed
to provide participants an introduction to building small experiments
that can be launched on sounding rockets. The RockOn! and WRATS
workshops are supported by the agency's Sounding Rocket Program at
Wallops.

For more information on RockOn! and RockSat, visit:

http://spacegrant.colorado.edu/rockon

For more information about the WRATS programs, visit:

http://education.wff.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's education programs visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education


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