WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. - Two days ahead of the 70th anniversary of the first launch on Wallops Island, a suborbital rocket successfully launched early Thursday morning carrying student experiments from across the country into space.
Thursday morning was ideal for a launch, despite all the mosquitoes on Wallops Island. The rocket was carrying various experiments from college students from around the United States. Including an experiment from UMES.
"The payload is basically a geiger county that's used to count particles," said UMES Junior, Tewodrs Mamo.
But not everything on board was built on a college level. There was even a much more simple, yet equally as effective, experiment from 6th graders in Chincoteague.
"What we did was we had a Frito in between two pieces of bubble wrap and we wanted to see if the difference in pressure could break the chip," said Johnny Rosanova of Chincoteague.
The first rocket launch at Wallops dates back to June 27th of 1945 and between that date and Thursday, there have been over 16,000 launches on Wallops Island. And in those seven decades, the flight facility has formed a bond with both Accomack County and the Delmarva peninsula. Between being a boost to tourism to helping bring businesses and people to the area."
"A lot of our employees, they grew up here, they've lived here for many years. They come to our installation and they stay for 10, 20, 30, 40 year careers because they're part of this community," said Jeremy Eggers of the Wallops Flight Facility.
And while the flight facility and Delmarva have established a broad relationship, the simplicity of sitting back and watching a launch cannot be beat for some. The launch Thursday morning was quick but it was a few moments the students on Wallops Island will not soon forget.
