NASA rocket carries UH Community College college students’ experiment into house

A NASA sounding rocket blasted into house on August 12, carrying with it a scientific experiment designed and constructed by University of Hawaiʻi Community College college students—marking the fifth time a Project Imua payload has reached house.

Windward CC scholar Ryan Vanairsdale and Honolulu CC scholar Teal Hoffman witnessed the launch at 12 a.m. HST from NASA‘s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

“That was really cool. I can’t think of anything else to say—it’s just really cool,” Vanairsdale exclaimed.

Hoffman added, “Whatever just happened, I did not expect, and we’re just hoping that our experiment is working.”

Common objective

The Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket reached an altitude of about 100 miles earlier than parachuting into the Atlantic Ocean.

Among the eight student-built experiments from throughout the nation chosen for the RockSat-X program, Project Imua Mission 14 aimed to check a sublimation-fueled motor in house situations, advancing understanding of different propulsion techniques.

The Project Imua group included seven college students and workers from Windward CC and Honolulu CC. Windward CC college students designed the deployment system and energy distribution, and carried out knowledge evaluation, whereas Honolulu CC college students developed video seize circuits and managed knowledge dealing with.

“For me, Project Imua is about teamwork. Itʻs about two community college campuses coming together and working together towards a common goal,” Hoffman mentioned.

Moving ahead

After restoration from the ocean, college students acquired their payload for knowledge retrieval and post-flight evaluation. The hands-on work is central to Project Imua’s mission—its identify means “to move forward” in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi—providing UH Community College college students real-world expertise in high-power rocketry, engineering design and house science.

Read extra tales from Project Imua

Since its first launch in 2015, Project Imua has given dozens of scholars the prospect to contribute to house missions, work alongside NASA engineers and convey their classroom studying to house.

—By Kelli Abe Trifonovitch