This past summer, a crew of Northwestern State University of Louisiana students visited the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to participate in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) RockOn workshop. University students from across the country worked together to build a piece of software known as a payload with the end goal of launching a rocket.
Physics professor Anna Dugas started a collaboration with the program in 2019. Plans to embark on the trip, as well as applications, began in Fall 2024. Shae Wetzel, a senior biology major, and Morgan McCrory, a recent biology graduate of NSU, were two of the applicants that got to participate.
“Morgan and I collaborated and created a rundown paragraph of who we were, what we wanted to gain from the experience and a little bit about our majors. Dr. Tristant and Professor Anna Dugas helped us out with the rest,” Wetzel said. “The application was in November, and we got a reply in March that we would be able to attend RockOn.”
Dugas, Tristant, McCrory, Wetzel and the rest of the fleet traveled to Virginia, ready to build a payload for a rocket. The attendees saw the behind-the-scenes process of making a rocket. “We were able to see where rockets were assembled, where the launch was monitored and what the data was used for once a launch was completed,” McCrory said.
McCrory also learned many valuable soft skills while building the payload for the rocket. “I learned how to properly solder, and we learned how crucial it was to be aware of small details and electronic placement when building the circuit board,” McCrory said.
On the last day of the workshop, the payload was inserted into the rocket, which was subsequently launched. The rocket reached a whopping 73 mph.
To put that into perspective: the distance between Earth’s surface and the point at which our atmosphere ends and space begins, also known as the kármán line, is about 62 miles above sea level.
“I felt like a kid,” Tristant said. “This is what you see on TV, and then you’re there at the station and can feel the excitement from professors and students.”
The experience opened the eyes of the participants as to why workshops like RockOn are important for students, working with all levels of student understanding and expertise to grow their knowledge of such a complex field.
“You don’t have to love space or want to be an astronaut to be interested, NASA supports a multitude of careers. RockOn showcases that in the upper level RockOn programs,” McCrory said.
RockOn is a workshop for more than just science majors, as NASA caters to the teaching of all students interested in learning. “RockOn shows us that it doesn’t take just a certain major to achieve these big things we see such as launching a rocket. It takes people who are in business, it takes people who are in psychology. It takes people from different backgrounds because there’s so many moving parts,” Wetzel said.
While the feat that occurred was certainly one for the books, Tristant wants to shoot for the stars by going to more NASA workshops in the future. “The goal for next year is to send two freshman students, and the year after we want to start a new program called Rock Set,” Tristant said.
The program will be a one-year project entailing students to create their own experiments to bring on a rocket ship. If you are interested in applying, speak to Dr. Tristant at 205 Fournet Hall or email him at [email protected] or Professor Dugas at [email protected].
