Tucked away in the lower level of Skyline High School and hidden in a small science classroom, a group of students have launched themselves into the national spotlight.
Juniors Ian Walp, Crystal Liang, Kieran Dong, Pan Zheng and Griffin Johnson — members of the school’s Physics/Rocketry Club — qualified to compete in the Team America Rocketry Challenge May 11 in Washington, D.C. The group is one of 100 teams selected from around the country and just one of two from Washington state.
“It’s unique because it’s not the most well-known club, it’s not the most visible club at all, so it’s pretty cool for everyone to be excited for them,” said physics teacher and club advisor Becky Fowler.
The club first started designing its rocket in August and completed the project in December. In a recent qualifying launch at Redmond’s 60 Acres Park, they sent their 600 gram, 29-inch long projectile 747 feet in the air with a hang time of 49.2 seconds. On top of meeting distance and time requirements, the group also protected an egg on the interior of the rocket using Tempur-Pedic padding.
Walp noted the most unusual aspect of the rocket lies in its tube fins.
“If we were going for just pure altitude we would want regular fins because tube fins have significantly more drag, but because of the aerodynamics of tube fins it also changes the way the rocket performs and it tends to be less affected by the wind,” he said.
Three of the five team members, including Walp, Liang and Dong, qualified for the national competition two years ago as freshmen. They are looking forward to making the return to the nation’s capital.
“It’s always interesting to see how other people build their rockets,” Liang said. “I remember two years ago we saw a rocket that was put together with duct tape.”
Dong said she enjoys the sight-seeing opportunities in Washington, D.C., but also is excited to scope out the competition in the NASA-sponsored event.
“Some have very professional looking rockets, some have really professional looking paint jobs and stuff,” she said. “There’s lots and lots of local people who come to spectate.”
This is the fourth team from Skyline to qualify for the event in the last nine years. Teams also qualified in 2004, 2005 and in 2011.
Fowler said the most impressive part of her student’s accomplishment is they do everything by themselves. Fowler and Dave Walp, a volunteer advisor, help with suggestions, but that’s as far as it goes.
“I don’t do anything because I can’t, not because I don’t want to,” Fowler said. “Everything is supposed to be 100 percent built by the students.”
The only other Washington school to send a team to the national competition was Northwest Yeshiva High School on Mercer Island. There were 725 teams around the country who made the attempt. Only 100 teams, representing 29 states, met the qualifications.
