Satellite Week 2019 Camp Updates
Day 1
Sunday, July 21
Our first day of camp got off to a great start! We made new friends, played lots of games, and learned about satellites. We also had a guest presentation by Mack Pearsall, founder of The Collider, and CubeSat co-inventor Bob Twiggs arrived. He will stay with us the rest of the week!
Day 2
Monday, July 22
We spent most of the day learning how to solder, and we made our first electronic gizmos! Our two main projects were constructing JiggyBots (small robots) and CricketSats (temperature sensors). We all decorated our JiggyBots and raced them at the end of the day! Bob Twiggs showed us how we can hear changes in temperature by listening to the frequency of our CricketSats.
We also had some special presentations! Ethan and Caleb, who also attended camp last year, gave a presentation on how they started a rocket club at their school. Mike Tanner of NOAA NCEI also came and told stories about mission team patches and his experiences launching satellites.
Day 3
Tuesday, July 23
The day started off with some guest speakers from PARI (Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute). They told us all about PARI and some cool internships our students could be a part of in the future! We also finished up our CricketSats and learned how to calibrate them. The weather looks promising for a great launch tomorrow! We ended the day with a couple hours of basketball, soccer, and four square in the gym.
Day 4
Wednesday, July 24
Today we launched our CricketSats! We started off with tethered launches followed by four free-flying missions. In the afternoon, Professor Knight from Lenoir-Rhyne University helped us launch water bottle rockets. Our challenge was to have the longest flight without breaking an egg.
Day 5
Thursday, July 25
Today we worked hard on our final presentations! We also got to hear some neat glacier expedition stories from Dr. Cecil and completed a fun solar wind activity led by Moriah and Jordan. In the evening, Alec ran the Mission Olympics. It was a blast! Photos coming soon.
Day 6
Friday, July 26
Today was the last day of camp, and we were sad to see everyone go! All in all, we have a fantastic week, full of fun, learning, new experiences, and new friendships. Several students expressed interest in Satellite Week 2020, and we are already looking forward to it!
All four teams gave their final presentations in front of their families and everyone did a fantastic job! Mary from AvL Technologies gave an inspiring talk about becoming an engineer, and Professor Bob Twiggs shared his journey to becoming one of the most impactful innovators in the satellite industry. It was a wonderful end to a fantastic week.
