April 22, 2008
Rio Rancho Journal
St. Pius Seniors Qualify for National Rocketry Competition
By Andrea Schoellkopf, Journal Staff WriterA trio of St. Pius High School seniors has aimed for the stars and is nearly there, thanks to their own rocket ship.
James DeOreo, Josh Cruz and Matt Sisneros, all 18, qualified for the Team America Rocketry Challenge next month by building a rocket that reaches 750 feet at launch, with a flight time of 45 seconds. Two raw eggs included as payload had to emerge unbroken.
The boys, who graduate from the Catholic high school two days after the national launch in May, say the project for their Honors Physics class was an option over the traditional science fair this year.
This year's team hit 752 feet at a time of 41 seconds at a local launch at the George Maloof Air Park. Judging was done by a member of the National Association of Rocketry.
Physics teacher Jim Carrie said he's had teams attempt the competition for the last three years. This year, the scores were good enough to qualify for the top 100 out of 643 teams competing nationally.
The finals are scheduled for May 17 in Virginia.
The team marks the first New Mexico delegation to qualify for the event, said Carrie, an active rocketeer whose classes have been working on rocketry projects over the past 12 years he has worked at Pius.
This year's team started in September, using cardboard tubes for the body and sanding down balsa wood for the fins. Memory foam inside the tube protected the eggs. Early simulated "flights" took place on the computer.
All of the team's work has been documented for a presentation, showing what went wrong during early trials and what was done to fix it.
The U.S. Air Force Research Lab helped get the parts for the rockets and is sponsoring the trip for the New Mexico delegation, which will include DeOreo, Carrie and at least one other student. Cruz and Sisneros, the student body president, will be staying home due to the timing of graduation events.
But DeOreo says he'll gladly miss some of his senior week activities for the chance to win the grand prize, which is $5,000 per team member.
"I've always liked rockets," said DeOreo, who is planning to attend either Notre Dame or New Mexico Tech this fall. "I want to be an aerospace engineer."
The weeks before the final competition find the students tweaking various parts of the rocket to narrow the point margin, such as sanding it down and painting it to lessen the friction and drag, DeOreo said.
One of the big differences, Carrie said, is that Albuquerque's altitude can make a huge difference when the rocket is launched in Manassas, Va.
The team needs its rocket to launch to 800 feet in Albuquerque to hit 750 at sea level.
"It's more statistics than anything else," Carrie said.
Sponsored by the National Association of Rocketry and Aerospace Industries Association, the Team America Rocketry Challenge is targeted at students between grades seven and 12.