Beginnings

The rocketry program was brought to Madison West High School in fall of 2003 by a freshman, Thomas Hanzlik. Shortly before he entered his freshman year, Tom learned about Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC), a rocket contest designed for high school students.

TARC requires all teams to be supervised by their home high school and Tom found a willing adviser in his science teacher, a biology instructor Chris Hager. The recruiting flyers were posted and shortly after 10 students formed the very first Madison West High School Rocket Club.

The TARC project proved to be time, effort and money demanding. Two biggest problems were the often conflicting schedules of the club members and the ever-ugly Wisconsin winter and early spring weather that accounted for many cancelled test flights. However the students solved these problems with great determination and by the beginning of February, they scored their first successful test flight complete with a fully functioning electronic payload.

All the efforts eventually paid off and the first Madison West Rocketry team successfully qualified for the national TARC finals at the Great Meadow, VA in May 2004.

At the finals, the team improved their score with 11th best flight in the nation and the 22nd place overall. Even though they did not win any of the big prizes, placing in the top 25 teams earned them an invitation into preliminary round of the NASA Student Launch Initiative (SLI).

Rocket science does not take a vacation and the Rocket Club members met several time over the summer to work on their proposal for the NASA Student Launch Initiative (SLI). The proposal was approved in November 2004 and the first West Rocketry SLI Team won funding for their project A Novel Method Approach to Finding Low Altitude Atmospheric Wind Patterns.

The successful appearance at the national finals was noted by other students at the Madison West High School and many new members joined the club for the 2004/2005 season. From there, the club only grew in terms of notoriety.

The 2000s

The Mid 2000s

The Madison West Rocketry Club continued its outstanding performance during the 2004/2005 season, the club achieved both 10th and 24th place in TARC allowing them to earn two invitations to SLI. This allowed them to run two SLI projects during the 2005/2006 season, one that studied plant science in rocketry and another one exploring infrared imaging using rockets. The plant science project, titled The Effect of Gravitational Forces on Arabidopsis Thaliana Development subsequently won the best payload award in the competition.

2006/2007 Season

For the 2006/2007 season, the Madison West Rocket Club team won second place in TARC and continued to be accepted into the SLI program, running an experiment on the development of foam during low gravity of rocket flight and the studied the effects of rocket flight on the gene expressions in Arabidopsis Thaliana plants. The club also had a successful TARC season and scored second in the nation during the 2007 TARC competition.

2007/2008 Season

In the 2007/2008 season, the club ran an SLI project that analyzed the distribution of pollen at various altitudes. This study was notably cited by the renowned web-comic writer and author Randall Monroe in his What-If web series which seeks to give a serious and scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions (See Link [3]). The club also continued to place in the top 25 in TARC, winning 16th overall in the nation.

2008/2009 Season

The 2008/2009 season saw the Madison West Rocket Club at the top of the TARC competition, scoring first in the nation and winning an invitation to the international fly off competition in England. Two SLI projects were also going on at the same time, one involving the analysis of airflow around a rocket and another one seeking to sample the air of high altitude areas for bacteria.

2009/2010 Season

The 2009/2010 season involved two SLI studies on the effects of air pollution on the light intensity and the crystallization of sodium acetate under high acceleration. 2010 also marked the first time that the club attended a local competition named Rockets for Schools (R4S), which involved the construction of a rocket and the presentation of a thoughtful and original payload. The club scored in the top three in the competition.

The 2010's

2010/2011 Season

In the 2010/2011 season, the SLI projects included A Comprehensive Study of Healing of Bamboo Plants from Hypergravity Induced Damage and Effects of Gravitational Stress and Sunlight on the Behavior of Slime Molds The team also continued to score within the top three in the R4S competition, starting an eight year streak of R4S placements that has yet to be broken as of 2018.

2011/2012 Season

In the 2011/2012 the club made history by becoming the first organization to place first in TARC for a second time. As of 2018, no other team as obtained a similar standing in TARC. This generated a second invitation for the international fly off. The club also continued to run two SLI teams, one titled Effects of Gravitational Forces and Flight Induced Vibrations on Diffusion in Liquids and another one titled: Transfer of Vibrations Inside a Rocket and Passive Vibration Dampening Techniques.

2012/2013 Season

The 2012/2013 season saw a continuation of the usual club programs, with two SLI studies: The Study of Sound in a Flight Induced Airflow and The Effects of Atmospheric Conditions on Sunlight Intensity. The club also placed 5th in TARC.

2013/2014 Season

In the 2013/2014 season, the SLI program was canceled by NASA due to a funding issue. However, despite the setback, the club continued to pursue their interest of rocketry. The club placed 6th in TARC.

2014/2015 Season

The 2014/2015 season of the club saw the return of the SLI program, which was now re-branded as Student Launch (SL). Two teams applied for, and were accepted into this program. Studies included the feasibility of a rocket delivered small-scale Earth observing instrument and the observation of muon flux in relation to altitude.

2015/2016 Season

The 2015/2016 season saw another record breaking year in our club. The Madison West Rocketry Club was accepted as the only high school team in NASA's Mars Ascent Vehicle Centennial Challenge. This challenge, which involved the simulated autonomous collection and launching of a martian soil sample proved to be a difficult task. However, despite being the only high school team to participate, the Club won second place in the competition, winning over $15,000 and became the first high school team to win prize money in a Centennial Challenge Competition. Additionally, the other members of the club successfully created, tested, and completed another SL project titled The Study of Extreme Gravitational Forces on Selected Arabidopsis Thaliana Mutants. The club placed 17th in TARC.

2016/2017 Season

The 2016/2017 season consisted another two SL projects titled The Effect of Gravitational Forces on Gene Expression in Arabidopsis thaliana and Precision Guided Landing via a Dynamically Reefed Parachute. In TARC the club placed 19th in the nation.

2017/2018 Season

The 2017/2018 season consisted of two more high preforming SL teams. The projects were titled The Effect of Liquid Types on Damping Efficiency of Rocket Vibrations (or Project L.E.M.U.R) and High Altitude Solar Imaging. Project L.E.M.U.R achieved two awards, one for having the best looking rocket, and one for achieving the closest altitude to a mile (5,280 ft AGL). Officially reaching an altitude of 5,271 feet AGL, the club beat out every other High School and College level team in the competition and placed as the third best altitude in the 18 year history of SL. The club placed 16th in the nation in TARC.