Weekends on the Water - July 2018

Weekends on the Water

NASA’s Robot Lander Touches Down at Space Center Houston

morpheus, an autonomous robotic lander, has touched down at Space Center houston as an addition to the future-looking mission mars exhibit. Suspended from the ceiling among a mars landscape, the prototype is a vertical testbed for advanced spacecraft technologies.

the morpheus lander was a key component in NaSa's morpheus Project to develop and test a planetary lander capable of vertical takeoff and landing. the vehicle provides a platform for bringing technologies from the laboratory into an integrated flight system and was tested at NaSa Johnson Space Center. the morpheus project was designed to support cutting-edge technologies NaSa is developing to send humans beyond low-earth orbit.

See the morpheus lander, touch a mars meteorite and explore the new summer exhibit during Space Center houston’s Days of elevation. experience the future of flight with above and Beyond, presented by Boeing. Design and test a supersonic fighter jet in a virtual high-speed flying competition, perform a flying simulation with motion-sensing technology and use augmented reality to explore the physical and psychological challenges of the journey to mars.

above and Beyond is produced by evergreen exhibitions in association with Boeing, in collaboration with NaSa and the Smithsonian’s National air and Space museum and is made possible locally by Coca-Cola. experience all that Space Center houston has to offer with more than 400 things to see and do. Stand close to flown spacecraft, touch a piece of the moon and mars and walk inside the historic shuttle carrier aircraft NaSa 905 and the shuttle replica independence. outstanding experiences await with lunch with an astronaut, the ultimate ViP level 9 tour and private tram tours for groups.

Clear Falls high School (CFhS) Knights sailors Katie mcgagh, Dutch Byerly, matthew morrell, Cade morrell, Noah zittrer, asher zittrer, Phillip adams, zane Rogers and Wylie Rogers recently traveled to San Diego to compete against the 11 other high school teams that earned a spot at Nationals. the San Diego yacht Club was the selected venue by the interscholastic Sailing association to host the high School team Race Nationals for the Baker Cup.

the 12 best high schools in the country in their respective districts qualified for this event, a two-day Regatta where, after completing a full Round Robin, they split the teams into three different fleets: top 4 in gold, next 4 in silver and the last 4 in bronze.

"the racing area was set right off Shelter Point, an easy spot for families and friends to follow racing, and very close to the floating dock where coaches and sailors would work to get some wins in," reported lakewood yacht Club (lyC) Coach Bernat gali. "Conditions were beautiful with clear skies and temperatures in the 60's, and the wind speed was excellent, but the race area made racing challenging, with strong currents coming from all over and power boating wake affecting every race. With the race area being so close to shore, geographical wind shifts were part of the game plan, and unexpected puffs changed the strategy while racing on several occasions."

CFhS had a great first day, despite some trouble getting off the start, and finished the first day in 3rd overall, qualifying for the gold Fleet and earning the right to fight for a spot on the podium. the last day rose with light winds, and although they displayed great racing skills against some of the best teams in the country, the Knights lost the battle for third at the very last run to finish 4th overall.

Congratulations to all the winners. Point loma high School, locals out of San Diego, won their second high School Nationals in a row after Fleet Race Nationals with a clean score of 17-0. antilles high School from uSVi claimed second while Christchurch high School from Virginia beat CFhS for third overall.

the Clear Falls sailors represent the South east District of interscholastic Sailing association (SeiSa) and are all part of the lyC Sailing program.