Pettigrew & Associates recently volunteered with SystemsGO New Mexico for their 2023 Rocket Launch in Jal, NM. Over 400 students from 15 school districts came together to launch the rockets they had spent the entire school year engineering and fabricating. Some rockets were designed to travel one mile high with a 1lb payload and some were transonic. All of them are just plain COOL.
Pettigrew’s team operates Stage 3, the final stage before the students walk their rockets to the launch pad. In Stage 3 the rocket receives a black powder charge to be triggered by the rocket’s altimeter to separate the rocket at its peak altitude and deploy the parachute that brings it gently to the ground.
This is the 7th year the SystemsGo New Mexico program has brought students together in Lea County. The program started in Fredericksburg, Texas when Brett Williams recognized engineering schools were running out of students who could build the things they designed. Pettigrew & Associates has been volunteering for five of those years and we are honored to be part.
About SystemsGO – A four-year sequenced STEM curriculum that aligns with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Partnership for 21st Century Skills, as well as Career and Tech ED (CTE) course objectives. Curricula covers introductions to the R&D industry and innovation; mechanical drafting/CAD for working drawings capture; and applied physics of main energy systems – mechanical, electrical, thermal, fluid – through design, build, and test projects. Click here to learn more about SystemsGo New Mexico.
Pettigrew’ Volunteers Richard Mulliken, PS and Angel Urquidi loading the black powder charge into the rockets just before launch.
