TWS Horizons Team 0268

Our team is competing in one of the world’s most prestigious competitions; the American Rocketry Challenge (ARC). In this exhilarating competition, student teams across the nation design, test, and launch rockets that must meet specific performance goals.

Our team, from Scripps Ranch, San Diego, aims to build a rocket that can reach 790 feet in altitude and safely descend to the ground within 41-44 seconds. Last year, out of 922 teams competing, we were just 15 places away from qualifying for nationals, which takes place in Washington, D.C.

Our team spends upward of 10 hours per week, designing, building, and refining our rockets, all in hopes of achieving the specific performance goals we set for our rocket. Two of our previous rockets, ORION Mark I and Orion Mark II, exceeded our performance expectations during testing. Unfortunately, due to a windy launch day, Orion Mark II was lost to the water alongside our launch location, demonstrating the risks that come with launching rockets. However, these risks and setbacks only motivate us further to push our designs to the limit. With our team’s commitment to reaching nationals stronger than ever, we are determined to consistently improve our rockets to perform better and better.

But we NEED your support to keep excelling.

Without funds, nothing can really take flight in our team, including our rockets. That’s where you become an important factor in our team’s success. Our team hopes to raise over 900 dollars, which would not only secure our team’s current season but potentially future ones as well.

Here’s the breakdown:

$20 funds an F-class rocket motor, the motor we’ll be using for our rocket launches this year.

$40 funds a Firefly, the altimeter that we use to measure how high our rocket flew.

$80 funds an entire rocket, composed of precisely designed and made 3D components, as well as body tubes and parachutes that help our rocket achieve its performance figures.

$150 covers an entire weekend’s worth of launches, which would provide our team with invaluable data on how, where, and what we can improve on.

Ultimately, we need a total of 15 rocket launches, and 4 rockets, not including some spares we may need, just in case any of our rockets experience a mishap during testing. With even $20, your contribution can make a rocket launch feasible. Any and every donation will help our team reach its goal!

Why Support Us?

Our team has launched well over 15 different times, each time improving our rocket from the last launch. Our team, with its experienced members, can easily reach nationals. With your help, you can make this attainable goal a reality!

Take it from one of our team members and Admin of the team, Aditya Phadke:

“The reason I joined this team is to get hands-on experience in Aerospace Engineering, that I wouldn’t otherwise get in school. I want to major in Engineering, and developing my skills now is crucial to my future success. The skills I learn include team management, rocket designing, and applying the fundamentals of Physics.”

By supporting TWS Horizons, you’re not just funding a team; you’re investing in the future of students, passionate about the fundamentals of Aerospace. With many of our team members planning to pursue engineering careers, experiences in this team, such as using 3D printers, CAD, learning OpenRocket, a software we use to model launches, and performing real-world launches, are precious. This knowledge isn’t kept secret within the team, as we give back to the community by hosting workshops for kids interested in rocketry.

Our Community

We don’t just compete — we give back. TWS Horizons has been hosting completely free summer workshops in collaboration with the San Diego Public Library for 4 years, where over 100 young engineers have learned about the principles of rocketry and have even launched their own built rockets, all under the supervision of our talented team members. We’ve received plenty of positive feedback from students and their parents, and our goal is to expand this program with each coming year.

How YOU can Help

Your donation, whether $20, $50, or $100, will support our team’s efforts in this year’s competition, and help inspire the next generation of engineers. We’ll provide patrons with regular updates on our team’s progress as well.

We hope you consider donating.

Follow our journey on Instagram, at TWS Horizons (@tws_horizons)

https://instagram.com/tws_horizons?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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