UNCP Rocket Team: Live from Huntsville with Dr. Steven Singletary

Listen as we join the UNCP Rocket Team live from the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This episode is a continuation of our April episode where Dr. Steven Singletary, of UNCP’s Department of Chemistry and Physics, discussed 3D printing on campus. In that episode we learned of the student work designing and printing parts for this rocket competition and the team that Dr. Singletary leads. Now, we join the team live from Huntsville and hear about the various required aspects of the competition, the students’ visit to Cummings Aerospace, and presentations given by UNCP students to NASA and other top corporate aerospace engineers. Through UNCP’s 3+2 Engineering Program with NC State University and via the experience of work such as this, alumni of the UNCP Physics program are working professionally in a variety of engineering roles. 

Spoiler alert! This episode was recorded the day before the competition in April, and the launch day arrived with clear, blue skies and perfect conditions. It turned out UNCP was the very first to launch, and produced an excellent result, hitting an altitude of 5281 feet, perfectly within the guidelines which specified 4000-6000 feet. The UNCP rocket, “Small Boi” was recovered in excellent condition. While the team did not take home a win in this first competition, they have high hopes (pun intended) for next year. Results from the 2023 Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium First Nations Launch Competition brought a 3rd Place win for the team in the Written Report category, and both the Outreach Award and a Next Step Award, which come with a combined total of $15,500 in funding. 

Video of the Huntsville launch is available, and of note is the announcer praising the UNCP team for the marketing and social media activity as he introduces the launch. View the launch livestream, which is archived on the Marshall Space Flight Center’s Youtube Channel (there is a detailed list of activities and timings in the video description) and you’ll find UNCP launching at the 52:03 mark. 

Students interested in joining the 2023-2024 UNCP Rocket Team simply need to email Dr. Singletary and free up some time on their calendars, students of any level and from any major are welcome: steven.singletary@uncp.edu 

Find the episode transcript here

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