A group of seven current and former students are set travel to Nevada where they hope to launch a 500 lb 18 ft. tall rocket of their own design, 35 miles into the upper atmosphere.
This first flight of "Team Ursa's" rocket will be a test flight to prove that their design is hardy enough to withstand the rigors of space flight, re-entry and landing. If all goes well, Team Ursa's design will be used by high school student groups to build countless other smaller versions and to inspire
the next generation of interested young people in hopes that they will take up rockets and other engineering persuasions.
Ultimately Team Ursa's endeavors will hopefully fill a huge void that was vacated by NASA when budget cuts were put into place, that of high altitude atmosphere testing and sampling.
Earth's atmosphere is apx. 60 miles deep. Planes and balloons can only reach a small fraction of the air column. The highest flying planes top out at about 16 miles and research balloons can reach maybe 25, but above that is a virtual scientific frontier. Researchers have only rudimentary idea of what kind of spores and other lifeforms that might exist in the higher reaches of the atmosphere.
It is hoped by groups such as Mavericks which support efforts of a younger generation of engineers, that Team Ursa's will help fill the research void.
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