Fishburne Military School Rocket Club On the Go
Cadet Timothy Arndt (Fairfax Station, VA) helps one of many young rocket enthusiasts during yesterday’s NRAO Open House.
Green Bank, WV — This weekend, members of The Fishburne Military School Rocket Club took their show on the road. The Caisson Rocketeers traveled to their usual launch site in Monterey, VA to launch rockets on Saturday as part of the Teen America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) program at FMS then packed up their gear and data in order to volunteer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) for its Open House and outreach event the next day.
The FMS Rocketry Club operates in conjunction with the Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (VASTS) program, a NASA-based science technology engineering and mathematics educational program for high school juniors in Virginia. Caissons and other VASTS members served throughout the Open House to help introduce first-timers and young students to the fun and science behind rocketry.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, is home to the world’s premiere astronomical telescopes operating from centimeter to millimeter wavelengths. The Observatory has an active engineering research and development program ranging in areas from digital, mechanical, structural, computational, and software engineering. The NRAO Open House draws hundreds of area students each year for a special afternoon of tours, rocket building sessions and a launching of all the student-built rockets.
The Caissons took full advantage of the telescope tours and were treated to a rare peek into the control room of the world’s largest, fully-steerable telescope. In the afternoon the Fishburne Military School crew pitched in with event organizers to help young students assemble their rockets while explaining some basics about how they would work when launched. Once all the rockets were assembled, crowd moved to a field nearby for the big event…launch time.
Children and parents alike gasped happily and pointed into the sky as each of the newly constructed rockets was launched. FMS Cadets, after helping to set up and hand out rockets, served as spotters in the field, making sure that none of the children lost their newest prized possession.
A photo gallery from the trip is available HERE
Fishburne Military School is the oldest and smallest of all military schools for boys in Virginia. Its college-prep curriculum is built upon the structure of an Army JROTC program. FMS is designated as a JROTC Honor Unit with Distinction and may nominate qualified candidates to the United States Service Academies. Fishburne hosts one of only four Summer JROTC programs in the nation, accredited by US Army Cadet Command
