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Fire in the Sky 2005 Events
- Douglas County Rocket Building
- FAR101 night launch
- One-day EX launch at alternate location
- Astronomy/Stargazing
- 100K' Balloon satellites
- NAR Open Contest
- Can loft competition
Douglas County Rocket Building
Jim Pommert and WAC will conduct a free model rocket building class on Friday afternoon at approximately 3 pm, at the Mansfield High School, open to Douglas county youth. Please note: it is not open to WAC, SPARC or OROC kids.
Astronomy/Stargazing
The Tacoma Astronomy Society and the Sunriver Nature Center & Observatory will hold classes and have telescopes available for solar & star-gazing.
Fire in the Sky 2005 Near Space Program
In an effort to acquaint the public with the excitement of science, mathematics, and engineering, L. Paul Verhage will lead a near space activity at FITS 2005. Participants, working in teams, will design and test their own functioning model of a satellite, called a BalloonSat. After confirming the soundness of their design, teams will help launch their BalloonSat to an altitude of around 100,000 feet. During the mission of their satellite, members of each team will have the option of either monitoring the flight in Mission Control or participating in the chase and recovery of BalloonSats.
After BalloonSat recovery, teams will download and analyze the data collected by their BalloonSats. The data collected can include, air temperature, pressure, light intensity, and imaging. In addition to their data, each team will also get a record of GPS data collected during the mission.
Methods of construction, programming avionics, and analyzing data will be explained. Teams will be able to keep their BalloonSat airframe, but due to costs involved, teams must return the BalloonSat's avionics.
NAR Open Contest
Washington Aerospace will be holding a NAR sanctioned Open contest as part of FITS 2005 near Mansfield Washington. The three events are open to both NAR members and non-NAR members with three age divisions; under 14, 14-18, and 19 and above, and teams. The three events are B-engine Parachute Duration, E-engine Boost Glider Duration and F-engine Dual Egglofting Duration. There will be no additional entry fee to fly in the contest events beyond regular FITS fees. The events will be run per NAR rules.
To view the NAR rules head to the NAR Pink Book
Events areplanned for Saturday and Sunday mornings, with Monday as a weather makeup day. Ribbons will be awarded for 1st through 4th place; current NAR members will receive competition points.
Jim Pommert,
NAR Contest Director
FITS Can Loft Rules
Drink must be a 12oz can, and must be carbonated. The can must be completely enclosed inside the airframe. Can rupture or leakage disqualifies the entry. Unsafe recovery of any portion of the rocket disqualifies the entry.
Three categories for competition:
1. Altitude (highest wins)
2. Recovery time (shortest wins)
3. Drink consumption time (quickest consumption down to foam)
Rocket must contain at least one commercial altimeter for altitude readout/download.
All cans must be returned to the RSO table for inspection. The can will be impounded and the altitude recorded. A mass chugging event will be held after the daily launch window closes.
All of these would be weighted with a point system:
1st - 5 points
2nd - 4 points
3rd - 3 points
4th - 2 points
5th or lower - 1 point (assuming qualified entry)
Highest point total after 3 phases wins. Prizes awarded at the discretion of the contest organizer.
Alex McLaughlin,
Can Loft Contest Director
