ROSSMOOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PAYLOAD LAUNCH INTO SPACE

On August 8th, 2003 a small payload from the Rossmoor Elementary School in Los Alamitos, Ca, launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station into Suborbital Space. Lift-off occurred from Space Complex 47 on a Metro-Rocket System powered by a Super-Loki Solid Rocket Motor. The launch was a cooperative effort between the Florida Space Institute (FSI), the Florida Space Authority (FSA) and the Lunar Rocket & Rover Co., Inc of Los Alamitos, CA.

The launch of the Rossmoor Elementary School payload is a milestone in rocket history in that, as far as we know, this is the first time an elementary school payload launched as the dedicated payload on a rocket to space.

Students from the Rossmoor Elementary School practiced payload processing in teams by packaging simple pieces of paper with their names written on it. Each station had the responsibility of processing their portion of the payload. The last student team packaged the paper into special canisters that were later transported to the Florida Space Institute for payload processing. The students had the opportunity to see and touch the mock-up of the rocket that will carry their payload into space.

This Metro-Rocket System dubbed by the Lunar Rocket & Rover Co., Inc as the Shadow-ID reached a speed of Mach 4.9 and 370,000 feet (70-miles) apogee altitude after which it quietly returned to the Atlantic Ocean. This altitude is roughly eleven (11) times higher than a Boeing 747 flies.