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| KRISTIE MOSS / Scroll |
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| A rocket takes off into the air Tuesday at the stadium as part of a physics class. |
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Rockets filled the sky above the BYU-Idaho Stadium last Tuesday as Brian Pyper of the Physics Department took his students out of the classroom and into some hands-on learning.
The students were given three weeks to plan, design and build rockets. They then used computers to calculate how high and far the rockets would travel and how long they would remain airborne.
Some groups bought rocket kits for their projects, while others went with a lower-cost approach and used everything from toys to cardboard tubes.
One design came from a model X-Wing ship from the original Star Wars. “We already had it lying around,” said Ryan Andreasen, a junior from St. Anthony, Idaho. “It was free because I got it for a present about five years ago.”
While the X-Wing exceeded the team’s prediction of 75 meters (246 feet) by reaching 83 meters (272 feet), the rocket’s parachute did not deploy and the ship made a crash landing.
One team’s rocket, named Tim Woman, made of a paper towel tube covered in duct tape, flew out of sight behind the stands and landed across the street.
“It got in the air, though the parachute didn’t deploy, but we’re just excited it didn’t blow up,” said Miranda Dudley, a sophomore from Chesapeake, Va.
Other rockets made more traditional routes straight up and down like Baby Bertha, a kit-made rocket that reached a height of 140 meters (459 feet) and then landed on the roof of a construction trailer between the stadium and the Eliza R. Snow Building.
While the students learned to better understand the subjects of rockets, others in the area enjoyed watching as the rockets flooded the Rexburg sky.
