Launch grounded; spirit isn't

   A rocket built by Air Force Academy cadets didn't get off the ground this month, but the engineering students say they're learning as much from setbacks as they would from a successful launch.

   The rocket was sent to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va., for a launch planned this month. But preflight inspections showed the cadet-built rocket could have exploded on the pad. The countdown was stopped hours before liftoff.

   "We noticed a crack in the solid-fuel propellant," said senior cadet Justin Raines, who oversaw the project.

   Solid fuel, like that used for the space shuttle's boosters, is volatile stuff and the slightest defect can lead to disaster.

   "We're not sure what would have happened," Raines said.

   So the cadets reluctantly waved off the launch and packed up their rocket for a return trip to Colorado Springs.

   "It was one of those life lessons, and we have to keep our heads up and move forward," said senior cadet Danielle Paya, who oversaw avionics on the rocket.

   The academy has had its cadets building and launching rockets for years. The rocket program teaches cadets everything from the physics of high-altitude flight to the finer points of budgeting and project management.

   "It gives cadets that hands-on experience you don't get elsewhere," said Lt. Col. Michael Bettner, who advised cadets working on the program. "We want them to learn space by doing space."

   The rocket launch was also slated to help the Air Force test new gear. The Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, planned on using the launch to test new instruments that gather information in flight.

   Someday, the academy wants its cadets to build a rocket that can reach the boundary of space at 330,000 feet.

   The seniors who built this rocket have about a month of classes left before they graduate and are just hoping to see their creation fly.

   The rocket case will be inspected at the academy, and engineers will determine whether the crack in the solid fuel can be repaired. When it's fixed, cadets will hunt down a place to launch the rocket.

   It's slated to fly so high, that even the Army's 235,000-acre Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site east of Trinidad is too small to hold a launch.

   The best alternatives are the military's White Sands Missile Range and coastal sites that allow flight over oceans.

   Raines said after all the disappointment, the team wants to see a fiery launch.

   "Absolutely."

   CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com