NOVEMBER 2024

November 23, 2024 by Austin Bennett

IREC ANNOUNCEMENT, STUDENT OUTREACH, AND MORE

Welcome

Welcome to the GFU Rocket Team's November 2024 edition of our newsletter! We would like to show our appreciation for your support, financial assistance, or even curiousity for our team by sharing with you what our team has been up to lately and periodically. So strap in, close the hatch, and let's fly!

International Rocket Engineering Competition

We are excited to announce the George Fox University Rocket Team has applied and been accepted to the International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC), hosted by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA)! This competition has been famous for being the world's largest rocket competition for colleges, and we are excited to represent Christ and GFU on a world stage. A total of 196 teams have applied, and 171 have been accepted. 

Our team will be competing in the 10k COTS competition, meaning that our target altitude is 10,000 ft above ground level (AGL) and we will be using a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) motor. Our rocket is named "Trillium II", as it is a continuation of the Trillium Project from 2022-2023, and the current design can be seen in the graphic below. The project has now been delegated to 4 sub-teams including structures, avionics, recovery, and payload. 

Close to us in proximity, Oregon State University and Clark College have also been accepted, and we are excited to participate with and compete against these local teams and represent the PNW well.

The expected competition dates are June 9-14, 2025, and the location of the competition is TBD.

I would like to extend a big thank you and congratulations to all of the team members on the progress we have made so far, you truly help to make this team both successful and enjoyable to be a part of.

Outreach Event with Northwest Christian Church

On November 19-21, 2024 the GFU Rocket Team volunteered at Northwest Christian Church (NCC) in Newberg, OR to help middle school students learn about, build, and launch model rockets. Around 50 total students were able to work together to build and launch around 20 total Estes Alpha rockets. The students were very excited about the rocket launches, and for most of them, this was their first exposure to rocketry. Because of this event with NCC and other events of the same likeness, todays youth can grow up being educated about the emerging space industry, and understand more about what they are hearing on the news with NASA and emerging aerospace companies. When these students have the opportunity to build something for themselves and see it in action, such as these rockets, they can feel proud of themselves and can be very encouraged to continue to learn and grow in their skills and knowledge, and into who Christ calls them to be. The rockets may be small compared to the ones the GFU Rocket Team builds, but they serve the same purpose and have the same inpact: there's always something new and engaging to learn, as long as we are willing to try.

Elan Hammons Achieves L1 Certification

On Saturday, October 19, 2024 Elan Hammons travelled to Brothers, OR to attempt to launch his rocket "Tenacity I" to achieve L1 certification with Tripoli. After enjoying beautiful views of Mt. Washington and stumbling upon the world's last Blockbuster, Elan, along with Austin Bennett and Ryan Buckles, arrived at the Oregon Rocketry launch site in the central Oregon high desert for the popular "Rocketober" launch. After painting the rocket, adding the payload (an apple and a masking tape stick figure astronaut), and integrating the motor, Elan headed to the launch pad to prepare for launch. Tenacity I roared off the launch pad and after reaching apogee, deployed the parachute for a nice, soft landing and a successful L1 flight! His next plans include helping the team with the Trillium II team rocket, and advising Elon Musk's SpaceX on fruit payloads and why apples should be used for scale instead of bananas. Congratulations Elan, keep up the great work!

OSGC NASA Grant Application

On Friday, November 15, 2024 the GFU Rocket Team applied for the 2024-2025 funding cycle of the Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium's UTEAP program, requesting $5,000. The GFU Rocket Team has been generously awarded this grant over the course of the past two years, and it has been a huge blessing to our team. We have been able to use the funds received by the UTEAP grant to invest in our first solid AND liquid propellant rockets, and to compete in our first ever competition (our team placed 4th out of 9 teams). Additionally, this grant has allowed us to learn the processes of how to share our project with others, through preparing presentation slides and posters, and we have gained valuable interpersonal skills as a result. We have also been able to provide valuable outreach opportunities to the community, including events like the one listed above with Northwest Christian Church. We are very thankful for the opportunity to continue to apply for the OSGC NASA Grant, and also the staff from OSGC and GFU who continue to allow this to be a possibility for our team. The awards will be announced on December 6.

Fundraising Update

As we continue our crowdfunding campaign, we have so far received $6,100 (Updated 11/20/2024). Our total goal for the year is $35,000, and we have made significant progress so far towards this goal. Some of the ways we have been able to use funds so far this year include:

• New Member High Power Rocketry Certification Kits

• Main & Backup Flight Computers

• GPS Tracker

• Test & Competition Motors and Motor Hardware

• Ground Station Antenna

If you would like to help support our team financially, please consider donating by clicking here. This link will take you to our fundraiser page. Or you can text GFURocket to 71777.

If you would like to become an industry sponsor of our team, please email rocketteam@georgefox.edu for more information. We would love to help advertise your business to both potential customers, as well as to students who could be potential future employees for your company.

Thank you to those of you who have supported us thus far, we look forward to sharing the amazing progress of our team this year as we prepare to head to the 2025 IREC!

Upcoming Events

Moving forward, our team will continue to fundraise through our crowdfunding page to financially provide for this year's projects and travel/lodging. We also will continue purchasing materials and begin building our Trillium II rocket, and building a test stand for Myrtle I to attempt a hydrostatic fire. In addition, we plan to begin working on our 1st progress report for the IREC, and celebrate our progress so far this year with a Christmas party open to all GFU students.

Event Schedule:

Dec 6: Campus-wide Rocket Team Christmas Party, and viewing of the Discovery Channel's series "Rocket Around the Christmas Tree" 

Dec 6: OSGC Awards Announced

Dec 6: IREC Progress Report 1 Release

TBD: Community Outreach Event

Dec 31: Crowdfunding Deadline

Jan 11, 2025: Washington Aerospace Launch

Jan 31, 2025: Scholarship Summit Club Fair

NET Feb, 2025: "Trillium II" Flight Test - Launch

Jun 9-14, 2025: International Rocket Engineering Competition

TBD: "Myrtle I" Hydrostatic Test - Static Fire

Closing Remarks

Thank you for taking time to give your attention to our team's updates, we really enjoy sharing with you as we move through this fast-paced year. I hope you take time to slow down today and think of some things that you are thankful for as Thanksgiving approaches. Do not take this life for granted, for God has only given us one. May you be blessed as you go throughout your month and holiday season!