LAUNCH PAD Apr 24, 2009

Students from the participating schools will attend the launch, along with their teachers, state and local officials, NMSA staff, and others.
by Staff Writers
Las Cruces NM (SPX) Apr 24, 2009
Spaceport America and the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium at New Mexico State University will conduct the first annual educational launch from Spaceport America Saturday, May 2.
This historic launch will utilize an SL-3 launch vehicle provided by UP Aerospace and will include 11 multi-sensor experiments designed and created by students from New Mexico schools.
The rocket is scheduled to launch at 8 a.m., with buses departing at 9 a.m.
New Mexico Space Grant Consortium Director Patricia Hynes said, "This launch marks the beginning of an annual program to help promote space programs at educational institutions throughout the state. By giving our students the ability to launch their experiments, we are generating interest in technology and science that can't be matched in a classroom setting."
"The purpose of this program is to develop New Mexico's workforce by providing students access to space annually from Spaceport America," said Steve Landeene, executive director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority. The experiments will be flown on a SpaceLoft XL rocket provided by UP Aerospace.
Students from the participating schools will attend the launch, along with their teachers, state and local officials, NMSA staff, and others. Many schools have experiments in the launch, including:
+ New Mexico State University
+ University of New Mexico
+ NMSU's Dona Ana Community College
+ ITT Technical Institute
+ Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
+ Cloudcroft High School, Cloudcroft
+ Hatch Valley High School, Hatch
+ Hot Springs High School, T or C
+ Las Cruces High School and Mayfield High School, Las Cruces
Groundbreaking for Spaceport America is planned for early summer 2009, and NMSA currently projects the terminal and hangar facility to be completed by late 2010. Spaceport America has been working with leading aerospace firms such as Virgin Galactic, Lockheed Martin, UP Aerospace, Microgravity Enterprises and Payload Specialties.