Aerospace Club Reaches the Stars!
The psalmist observes in Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” When we look up, we are mesmerized by the world that The Lord has created, with an innate desire to know more about what is beyond and above us.
Sam Jung, a Flower Mound sophomore, has taken this desire and turned it into action with the creation of CDA’s Flower Mound Aerospace club.
With future aspirations of being in the Aerospace field, Jung and six other students make up the Aerospace club, whose goal is “To learn the beauties of Aerospace Engineering, the underlying science, math, and calculations, to learn more about the universe and the world that God has given us, and to do so in teambased projects.” With the club’s birth over a year ago, the students have already completed one project in which they built a 4 ½ foot rocket, shot it 1,350 feet into the air, and recovered all parts of the rocket. At the end of the year, they also brought in CDA alumnus, Clayton King, who currently works at NASA to speak to the club members.
This year, the club’s aspirations have been much higher, with the goal of launching their very own FAA-approved weather balloon into space. The balloon would be equipped not only with minicomputers, which would allow the club to track its location, but also with a GoPro to extract footage of space, and a mini Petri dish of bacteria to be analyzed after the journey. With the help from Dr. Connell and others such as Mr. Holland and Mr. Hix, the club worked for 10 months to achieve this goal during the 2022-23 school year, which they did!
Though the club is already working hard towards completing its second project, Jung informs us that it hasn’t been easy. The club’s existence came from the desire to discuss and explore more of Aerospace, an ambitious activity that is not cheap. Therefore, finding sponsors has also been a necessary effort with the members spending many hours outside of club to find those willing to help fund their projects. Thankfully, the project funding goal was completed with the help from CDA faculty.
View from the GoPro Launched into Space
Despite setbacks, Jung says that he hopes the Aerospace club will continue even after he graduates in 2025, hoping that younger students take the helm. When asked about his fondest memory so far, Jung shared that, although nerve-wracking, launch day was the most exciting and rewarding. “You want it to succeed, and an adrenaline rush starts as soon as you wake up.” The club members met up on a student’s ranch, finally to put all of their hard work to the test.
When asked about how they have seen the Lord working since they started the club, Jung replies that God provided understanding and patience. From the stress of finding sponsors to spending four months looking for the correct helium for their project, the students had to learn to trust God’s timing for the project, waiting and relying on Him and not only their efforts. Club members and school faculty have been excited to see the fruit of all their hard work—the successful launch in April. Watch the dramatic video!
If you’re inspired to help the Aerospace Club, your prayers and donations are greatly appreciated. Thank you, Sam, for bringing such a unique club to the CDA Flower Mound campus.
