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news
Launching a rocket
to success
By Alisha Gomez
On-line Forty-Niner
The College of
Engineering, along with Garvey Space Corp. in Huntington Beach,
is preparing to launch Prospector II, the result of Prospector
1, a rocket launched during the summer.
The group of students worked hard to raise money to fund their
first rocket, technically called the California Launch Vehicle
Education Initiative, but recently received a grant from the
California Space Authority in the amount of $110, 645 to continue
the project.
Students working on the rocket project get extremely valuable
hands-on experience, said Eric Besnard, faculty dean for the
project.
"The bigger picture of this project is that it is about
the education of students, and expanding the research and
development in space sectors," Besnard said.
The new student lead for Prospector II, Seth Quitoriano, a
senior in aerospace engineering, agrees.
"I learned a lot working on the rocket project last semester,"
said Quitoriano, who decided to join after the success of
Prospector 1. "It is such a valuable experience because
you get to actually work on the project. Students should take
advantage of the experience because it is the closest you'll
come to being in the real world and the industry itself."
Besnard said that other universities are interested in working
on the project, but no definite plans have been made.
The focus of the project is different from something NASA
would be doing, Besnard said. Prospector I had only blasted
into the sky at an altitude of 10,000 to 15,000 feet, half
of what an airplane flies.
"We are not going after altitude," Besnard said.
"We are focusing on keeping the project low in cost and
putting it on the educational market."
Quitoriano plans on bringing his knowledge and expertise from
last semester's project to this semester's rocket.
"I will be able to relate what I know to the new students
because when we work with people from the industry [such as
from Garvey], they forget how students understand things,"
Quitoriano said.
Quitoriano's position as student lead will allow him to relate
information on a student level, especially since this will
be the first time students are applying what they have learned
in a classroom.
Freshman Felix Figueroa, majoring in aerospace engineering,
received a flyer about the rocket project from the department
of engineering. He is a newcomer to the project in hopes of
gaining valuable knowledge.
"I thought it would be a good experience because when
I am a senior I will able to bring ideas to improve the project
by gaining the knowledge now," Figueroa said.
Even though Figueroa is pretty certain he will not be doing
much this semester on the project, he is very eager to get
started.
"I will probably being doing the grunt work, but I definitely
have a lot of ideas to bring to the project," he said.
The team plans to launch Prospector II in December. All engineering
students and class levels are welcomed. Meetings for the rocket
project are held Tuesdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Those interested
should e-mail Seth Quitoriano at csulb_aiaa@hotmail.com
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Alisha
Gomez/On-line Forty-Niner
John Garvey,
(second from left) owner of Garvey Space Corp., explains the
parts of last year's rocket, Prospector 1, to eager engineering
students.
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