[Editor's Note: These are compilations of comments made by various team members in each group.]

Rocket being carried down the hall to the inspection station. Photo by Mary Alice Murphy
By Mary Alice Murphy, A.J. Ward and Alexis Rico.

The exhibit halls at the Las Cruces Convention Center, on Tuesday, June 18, 2019, held the rockets and rocketeers who would begin launching their rockets at Spaceport America on Wednesday, June 19.

Almost everyone in the room seemed to be on the move. Some were carrying rockets out for safety inspections; some wandered from team to team trying to learn how each team's rocket worked and what their payloads were.

Photos by Mary Alice Murphy:

Some of the Akronauts from left, in back, are Dillon Petty, Alex Mortensen, Matt Reppa, Joey Stack and Andrew Wiles. In the front row are Ean Hudspeth and Lucas Bloom.A team from the University of Akron in Ohio called themselves the Akronauts. Their rocket spanned several tables and was painted like a pencil, including eraser and point. The team brought 24 members that have been participating in rocketry competitions for the past five years. Due to graduations, only one on the team was left from the first year. Their majors included engineering, computer technology, and members formed teams also doing photography, art and social media. One of the group said: "We all have a passion for space and aerospace." Some of the students took a rocket to the NASA student competition in Alabama recently and placed third out of the teams participating. "This rocket today is completely different from that one. It's bigger and took us three to four months to build. The one that placed took eight to nine months to build."

Holding a British flag are Louis Richardson-Browne, Rowan Saunders, Nick Doughty, Constantinos Aphanis, Rupert Glover, Tom Dolphin, Nathan Rhodes, Oliver Atkinson, Tamos Harabaly, Chris Milbourne and Cameron Taylor.Holding a British flag are Louis Richardson-Browne, Rowan Saunders, Nick Doughty, Constantinos Aphanis, Rupert Glover, Tom Dolphin, Nathan Rhodes, Oliver Atkinson, Tamos Harabaly, Chris Milbourne and Cameron Taylor.

From England came several teams. One was from the University of Bath. "Why did we start this? We had a Ph.D. student studying aeronautical engineering and he pitched the idea to create a rocket. We only had a few modules in the curriculum on space. Twelve of us have been working on the rocket for about two years. Eleven of us came. We hope to have another team of nine next year. We are learning so much here. This is the first rocket we have built. It's the first rocket we've ever seen, and this is our first competition. We watch a lot of livestream programs on rocketry. It has been great to find people that are passionate about the same things."

From left are Muhammed Keklik, Resul Efrem Sylaç, Ertugrul Kusva. Bilal Çatkin, Adile Gûndogdu and Merve Acar.From left are Muhammed Keklik, Resul Efrem Sylaç, Ertugrul Kusva. Bilal Çatkin, Adile Gûndogdu and Merve Acar.

Two teams are participating from Turkey. One group is from Istanbul Technical University. "We have 22 on our team; six of us came. It is wonderful to be amongst the next generation of rocketeers, sharing with them and meeting with them. We are the Lagari Thrust Rocketry Team."

Not in order are Christophe Absi, Nathanaël Beaudoin-Dion, Thomas Beeson, Valérie Bolduc, Mathieu Corbett, Gabriel Dubé, Benoit Dumas, Yohan Gendreau, Olivier Jobin, William Kaprolat, Philippe Kavalec, Thierry Larouche, Pierre Laurendeau, Aleénor Lougerstay, Massi Mahiou, Ariane Mainville-Ouellet, Samer Massaad, Eduardo Olivera, Pablo Ponce-Julien, Robin Tanguay, Simon Tanguay, Guillaume Villeneuve and Kevin White.The Oronos team from Polytehcnique Montréal brought 21 members of their team, with about 50 remaining in Montréal. The team began in 2011. "This is our second time launching with a hybrid motor." When asked if they had tested it, they said not at the altitude they want to achieve, because it is forbidden to launch such rockets in Canada. "A new rocketry competition will begin in Cold Lake, Alberta, as soon as the regulations are changed. As of now, it is marketed as a pilots' event. We will enter a different rocket from this one." One member said he joined to learn how to make rockets. "I made a lot of friends in Oronos and I wanted to visit New Mexico. I have learned so much more than I did in classes." Another said he liked the fire coming out of the rocket at launch, "but we take all safety precautions. The university gives us access to a large workshop. We get to play with big toys." Many of the members are in computer engineering and other in aerospace engineering. "Most of us will end up with careers in aviation." One noted that Canada is very risk averse. "It's hard to launch a new aerospace company in Canada. We can launch at very low elevations, but many are pushing to change the regulations to be able to launch larger rockets in Canada. We think commercialization of aerospace is important, to the moon, to Mars. It's happening one flight at a time."

UNM Lobo Launch Team 2019 members from left are Roger Koerner, Collin Lockemer, Eric Ballard, Gregory Vigil, Devin Willingham, Tate Janssen, and Jacob Fulton.

The University of New Mexico Lobo Launch 2019 team brought 10 of their 11 members to their first time participating in the Spaceport America Cup. "We are all mechanical engineers, but most of us are interested in aerospace. It is a young program."

The Texas A&M team brought 14 for their third year to participate in the competition.

The Polish team from AGH University of Science and Technology members from left are Agota Zwolak, Dagmara Stasionske, Adom Kolusz, Tomasz Tatara and Artur Biernat

One of the teams from Poland came from the AGH University of Science and Technology (Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza Im. Stanistlawa Staszica w Krakowie) in Krakow. Eleven team members came to the U.S.; 10 will be on the launch pad. "We had another competition right before this one. We left four in Poland. There are 15 of us altogether. Our payload is 'bee-Oh-logical' biologic, with bees. This is the first time to use them. We could not bring Polish bees, so we got some from a local beekeeper. They are only workers. No one knows what will happen with a queen bee, if she is launched, whether she will continue to reproduce correctly. If we go to Mars, we will need greenhouses to feed us. The plants will need pollinators. Most of our research is done in Poland. We want to make sure they are still alive after a launch."

The biologist, Satsionske, pointed out the '"cages" the bees will be in on the rocket. They have temperature stabilizing insulation. "We will leave some on Earth and some will go in the rocket." She showed the tiny computer components that will gather data during the launch. "We did it in Poland. They hibernated in flight. But then they and the ones on Earth all got sick and died, because it was 2 or 3 degrees Celsius in a pouring rain."

Muriel and Mirela of Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland, with team Aris and Project Heidi. Photo by A.J. WardWard said she interviewed female students to find out how the male students treated them and if any discrimination was encountered. "The basic answer is 'no.'" They said they are treated with respect and any disagreements were just over elements of the rocket. This is their second time in the US at this challenge.

Ward interviewed Muriel and Mirela, students from Switzerland, and their Project Heidi.

Muriel spoke first and outlined the basics of their rocket. They hope to reach the 10,000-foot altitude and "win the cup," she said. They have air brakes on the rocket that will engage once the rocket hits the desired altitude and will help it descend. They started building it in 2018 and have sponsors that help pay for all their expenses. Muriel was encouraged by her dad in her interest in rocket science and he has supported her efforts.

Mirela said she has always been interested in rocketry and when she learned about the project, she joined it. An event put on by the faculty at their university recruits new girls into the program.

Their university system is set up for a three-year bachelor's degree and a two-year master's. The girls are in their second year of the bachelor's degree and will go on to the master's because they said they are really not employable without the master's.

Three experiments will launch as the payload of the rocket. One is to see how or if the vibrations in the rocket can generate electricity. One is to calculate the position of the rocket 's altitude in the air. The third one involved a low-cost camera and lens, but no light; no microscope on the rocket; zero G flights; high and low accelerations.

They are not allowed to shoot off rockets at the 10,000-foot altitude in Switzerland. They use a smaller motor on the rocket over there and have a larger motor to use at the Spaceport. The students made all the parts for the rocket except for the base that holds the engine. The sponsors pay expenses, help during construction and with experiments.

Following photos by Alexis Rico
Some of the team from Sweden with their rocket answering questions from fellow rocketeers.

Rebeleka Jennings Stjorn and Amalie Wee from the Polish team, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, said this year was their first year competing ,and they had been working on their rocket for the past year. They have been in New Mexico for the past week. “There has been a lot of preparation for the competition,” Stjorn said. They will be launching their rocket on Thursday, June 20, 2019.

 The team representing Universidade de Sao Paolo, Brazil, discuss their rocket and show the blueprint they have worked on. 

The team representing Seoul work on preparing their rocket for the safety evaluation.

Rocketeers excited to learn about the rockets that have been created from around the world for the competition this year.

 A display board for the University of Windsor’s rocket that they are trying to get to reach 30,000 ft.Kate Berg , from the University of Windsor in Canada said this is the team’s third year participating in the competition. They use the rockets created each year as a capstone project. They design, build, and test a different rocket each year for the competition. “The difference in the rocket this year is that it is supersonic, and it should reach 30,000 feet,” Berg said.