Hey, remember my friend, Aqil, who built a rocket named Moondawg with 150 of his closest friends on the UW SARP team? Here, let me give you a few hints:
Hint 1: UW (pronounced "You Dub") stands for University of Washington, a world-class university here in Seattle from which Aqil just earned his bachelor's degree.
Hint 2: SARP stands for Society for Advanced Rocket Propulsion, and what members do for fun every year is build a rocket in their free time and then, come June, haul it down to Las Cruces, New Mexico for a launch competition called Spaceport America Cup.
Hint 3: If that still doesn't ring any bells, you can always go here to read the full back story.
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Well, I have great news. The results of this year's competition are in...and UW SARP won!
On June 22, Moondawg launched straight and true into the deep blue high desert sky, and performed just as everyone hoped it would
Go here to watch the flight from countdown... to ignition...to liftoff...to the point where the UW SARP team still seem to be tracking Moondawg's trajectory although I can see nothing but clear, blue sky.
But if you want an image that captures the mood on the ground, look no further than this:
After a long year of long hours and hard work, nothing says, "Hell, yes, we did it!" than these five. figures, carrying their spent rocket back to the base.
Congratulations to Aqil, the whole UW SARP team, and Moondawg too, for your brilliant, high-flying success.
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More stories about my friend, Aqil:
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