Grinnell Rocket Team launches their vision for the future

On Wednesday evenings, the lower floor of the Noyce Science Center is usually deserted. But just past the door of the Physics Lab, an almost-five-foot-tall pink rocket leans against a table, and in the Science Woodshop, Sophia Ramalli `27 and Shira Sheppard `27 don goggles and drill holes through a wind tunnel.

As Sheppard and Ramalli hold the structure in place for the drill bit, a photo of physics students past looks on.  

“It’s funny that there’s a photo of three white men because it’s usually just me and Shira here,” Ramalli said.

As the founder and president of Grinnell’s first-ever rocket team, Ramalli stays in the Physics Lab until 9 p.m. every Wednesday to work on rocketry projects that reach across multiple STEM disciplines. Grinnell Rocket Team, which has launched several rockets since its founding last year, hopes to gain more sponsors and further its work to eventually participate in national rocket competitions.

Ramalli said that navigating rocketry without support from an engineering department at Grinnell has been difficult. 

“We don’t have an engineering department, so we basically have to learn everything by ourselves,” Ramalli said. “We go through online courses on aerospace engineering, aerodynamics, structural engineering, etcetera, so we understand exactly how a rocket works.”

Since its founding in 2024, The Rocket Team has launched three low-powered rockets, which go up less than 1500 feet. On April 13, the team traveled to an official launch site in Fort Dodge to launch a bright pink high-powered rocket, which can go up to over 2,500 feet, or the height of two Empire State buildings.

“When I was preparing my own rocket, a little girl who had a tiny pink rocket, she was like, ‘Oh my god, I want to take a picture with your rocket,’” Ramalli said. “It’s a very community-building activity.”

The Grinnell Rocket Team has received support from the Iowa Society of Amateur Rocketry, as well as the elite Iowa State rocket team. 

“They were like, ‘Yes, please reach out whenever you want to do something cool,” Ramalli said. “It’s very nice to know that there is a team that wants to help us, and it’s so close from us. There’s so much potential with that.”

“Everyone’s there [at the rocket launch] for one purpose, but at the same time you got to know so much about the Iowa community and how people are willing to help,” Ramalli said.

Currently, The Rocket Team is working on adding a flight computer to their high-powered rocket to study flight trajectory. They are also perfecting a wind tunnel to simulate the nose cone of a rocket and learn more about aerodynamics. They are presenting their progress to the Wilson Center, who sponsored The Rocket Team early in their development. 

“When I first joined The Rocket Team, we were still painting it [the wind tunnel],” said Sheppard, the team’s vice president. “Now it’s mostly functioning and we’re pretty close. That’s exciting.”

Funding from sponsors is crucial to the Rocket Team’s success. Their current sponsors are Saints Rest Coffee House, local farm Van Arkel (VA) Stock and Grain, and Boeing Engineer Darko Ivanovich.

VA Stock and Grain authorized the Rocket Team to launch low-powered rockets on their land, which is rewarding for Ramalli.

“Most of the time, their kids come, too, and they watch it with us,” Ramalli said. “That’s very fun.”

The Rocket Team members said that the problem-solving aspect of rocketry is appealing to them. The team welcomes students from all majors, whether in humanities, STEM or the arts.   

“It involves many different disciplines of knowledge,” The Rocket Team Treasurer Hanson Liu `28 said. “You could learn a lot from participating in the team, whether it’s academically or non-academically.”

Ramalli said she hopes that The Rocket Team can have a continuous, lasting impact on Grinnell. 

“My main goal is for the team not to die when I graduate, for it to continue being alive and continue launching rockets,” Ramalli said. “Ten years from now, we’re going to be known for launching rockets, like Iowa State.”

Accessibility is a priority for Ramalli and she hopes to create a different image of physics students. It is time to update the Science Woodshop photo of three white male students, she said. 

“I know they say ‘Oh, it’s not rocket science,’ as if it’s a hard thing, but rocket science is not supposed to be rocket science,” Ramalli said. “It’s supposed to be a fun thing that everyone can learn.”

More information about The Grinnell Rocket Team can be found at their Instagram at @grinnellrocket and on their website at https://grinnellrocket.sites.grinnell.edu/.