After a few moderately frantic weeks of emailing, scheduling, and sorting out various logistical issues, the team finally assembled for its first meeting! It's been a bit of a bumpy road getting here - the government shutdown delayed part of the project's funding, and the original plan to recruit students through a summer camp at Purdue never materialized - but after sending a multitude of emails to every high school science teacher in town and inveigling some of the ever-helpful aero/astro staff into assisting, we are finally off and running with a diverse team of ten students from three of the four schools in Lafayette/West Lafayette.

At our first meeting, we discussed the overall objective of the project - to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11's landing on the Moon by undertaking an ambitious engineering engagement project, as well as our specific goals and a rough timeline. Perhaps most importantly, the team of students set about outlining the mission objectives of the payload. After some initial brainstorming and discussion, they agreed on the following objectives:

1. Record atmospheric pressure and temperature profiles throughout the ascent
2. Measure the concentrations of different gases or pollutants in the atmosphere
3. Measure stratospheric radiation levels
4. Record photos and/or video
5. Transmit tracking data for recovery

Over the next few weeks, these goals will be further defined as the design of various systems takes place. The team has split into the following teams to tackle each system:

1. Structures
2. Instrumentation
3. Flight Computer
4. Tracking & Data
5. Integration

Over the coming weeks, I hope that you'll have a chance to hear from the students on each of these teams as the project starts to come together.