Last weekend my husband got to lead the science experiment: a rocket launch. We drove down to one of the ranch fields for the launch, because he said it could go quite far and he also didn't want to set anything on fire. So we went near the center of a recently cut pivot and assembled the launching platform.
The kids were so excited!
My husband assembled the rocket out of various things. The guide for putting it onto the launch tower was a plastic straw glued onto the rocket.
Then all the wires had to be attached to the launch site and the launch control box. This was definitely high tech.
Preparing for launch! Desert Girl even has some upside-down eye protection.
The launch was a little faster than I was ready for with the camera. The rocket hissed and then took off far into the air. On the way down, close to the ground, the parachute came out, but didn't slow the rocket much. We went over to it (near the edge of the pivot, so it was good we had a really big area to work in!), and this is what we found:
One imbedded rocket! Fortunately it was good for another launch. This time it ended up going in the other direction. We have some work to do to make this more predictable!
p.s. Desert Survivor has
a Facebook page, and it would be great if you'd "Like" it if you have a chance. Thanks!
I loved doing that as a kid. I think my brothers still have me sworn to secrecy about some of the details. :-)
ReplyDeleteVery cool science project!! One of the most exciting things I have ever witnessed was a space shuttle launch. My Dad was an engineer and tested the space shuttle in its development phase :)
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