Month: February 2018

Space X Launch

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On February 6, 2018, the most powerful rocket of the decade was launched. It was named the Falcon Heavy. Space X, a company started by a business man named Elon Musk launched it. The Falcon Heavy was a reused rocket – the first rocket to do so. The price was only $90 million, which may seem like a lot, but isn’t, when talking rocketry. That’s why reused rockets can be so important. They cost less. Many believed that we were being held back by the cost of exploring space. But now, we are not. Who knows what reused rockets can end up doing. In addition, the Falcon Heavy was the first rocket that tried to leave orbit which was not designed by the government. Space X was run by a businessman –  unlike NASA, which is run by the government. Also, the amount of technology used in the Falcon Heavy was remarkable. Elon Musk himself had some nightmare case scenarios about what would go wrong. It’s very surprising that noting did. Finally, the Falcon Heavy rekindled some of the feeling people have had about space. It rekindled excitement, hope. old dreams. The Falcon Heavy was definitely a remarkable rocket by many standards.

My first reaction when seeing the Falcon Heavy was “Whoa. What is that?” Then, when I learned about all the things above, I was surprised and amazed. I’ve always been interested in space, but this was awesome. A rocket that had so many ‘firsts’ piled up on it. With so many dreams. With so many things that could go wrong. That rocket went up. I just found that amazing and really, really cool. You definitely don’t see a rocket like the Falcon Heavy everyday. But what I found most amazing was the fact that the Falcon Heavy was a reused rocket. Now, the cost was so much less. That could evolutionize space travel. Take it to a whole new level. That was just what really shocked me.

I’m still wondering about the feelings that Elon Musk had when the Falcon Heavy nailed it’s maiden flight. What did he do? How did he feel? I’m also wondering about the challenges that the people building the Falcon X faced. What didn’t work? How did they feel? What did they do too insure success? These were my wondering for the Falcon Heavy.

The Falcon Heavy was definitely an astonishing rocket. It held the hopes and dreams of many, and completed all of those too. It was definitely something that the U.S.A should be proud of. And who knows. Maybe this rocket will change the future. All we know for now is that the Falcon Heavy was amazing, breath-taking, and a dream come true for many.

Rube Goldberg Project: Reflections

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No matter what you do, you almost always have too have a reflection. Sometimes you don’t write it down, but you always have one.

My Rube Goldberg project was held off for a while. I  couldn’t find time too video. But on the Super Bowl I did, and it felt amazing.

My reflection started at night, when I was in bed. The first lesson I learned was that it’s better to work on something for a few minutes than too not work on it at all. Just never hold it off till the last moment. I sort of held my project off till the last minute. I had a safety video, something I use in case my project doesn’t turn out, but my safety video wasn’t that good. So, never hold anything off till the last minute. Always work on it as much as you can.

Also, you have too be kind too those who help you. Many times I was mean too my sister. She always helped me. But one day, she stopped. She told me too do it myself. I wasn’t being nice too her and that was my fault. So when she left, I deserved it. Maybe if I hadn’t been so despicable, she would have stayed with me.

Finally, I learned you’ve gotta believe in yourself the whole way through. When I looked over my machine, a little after the final video, I noticed a couple of things that were wrong. Sometimes a piece was not  straight or a ball was too heavy. Maybe if I hadn’t been so stressed, I could’ve noticed these and made my project more successful. Maybe if I thought that I could’ve done a good job, I would have without all the stress that cam with it.

This is what I learned. Of course, I learned some other lessons, such as the fact that things must always be labelled and the importance of a plan, but these were the big ones. Yet most of all, I learned that the fun comes in the journey. Sometimes it’s better to have fun than too complete the grade. And if you don’t have fun in a project, than it’s basically a waste. And I know I had fun in this project. Now, in the end, I don’t even care about the grade. I had fun, I think I did a great job, and I think it was a success, and that should be enough for everyone. Because I know it’s enough for me. And that is what I call a success.

Rube Goldberg Project: Success is Sweet

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It worked! It worked! It really did! Nothing went wrong! The pipes worked, as did the seesaws and the tunnels. Every single part of machinery operated just as it should have and put on a miraculous show. And it was easy!

Or was it?

HAHAHAHAHA!

No.

I’d gotten sick on Monday, January 29th, so I worked that day and the next on my project. Due to the the deadline was speedily approaching, I had to take out a step. I had found this lovely old Rube Goldberg machine that I had to put together. It gave me about five or six extra steps, but it kept falling apart. The tunnel that held the basketball collapsed, and the bowling pin, which was supposed too knock over like a domino and pull down a hammer wouldn’t balance on top of the hockey stick. So I had to cut it. It was very disappointing; I had worked extremely hard over every part of the machine, especially that one.

The rules my teacher had sent out for us were that we needed a video in which the Rube Goldberg machine which we had worked on completed its task. It seemed simple at first, but the video turned out to be impossible.

I couldn’t video over the week; my schedule was packed. And Friday I was feeling extremely weak, as I was on Saturday too. So all of Sunday I worked. On the day of the Super Bowl! My whole family was busy so I didn’t get much done. Luckily, we watched the Super Bowl in the same area that I worked on my Rube Goldberg project in so at that time, I worked.

Every second I could, I worked on Rube Goldberg. I popped my head in between rooms every time the Eagles won a touchdown and while the Patriots got the ball, I videoed. But every time I videoed, there was a step that failed. And whenever I tested, without the camera to fix something, the machine worked perfectly.

I was really getting stressed. I was sweating, screaming, and crying. One time, my machine worked all the way too the second last step. And when that happened I just lost it. My screaming woke up my baby brother and then I started to wail. I was that stressed and tired. So for about half an hour, I watched the game. Then, once I was calm, I went back to the project. My sister was there, as was my dad. It still wasn’t working.

My sister’s phone’s battery started to run low. My dad told me that if I didn’t finish fast, my baby brother would come back down. I had about five minutes, TV blaring, and a phone with 4% left.

I tried again. Fail!

Again. Fail!

A couple of changes were made. Fail! The phone was at 1%.

“One more video.” My sister warned. “Then we’re all out.

I accepted defeat.

My heart wasn’t in it anymore.

“Wait.” My sister called. “Do this really quickly. It might help the machine.” We taped a tube and a block down too the board, hoping it would stop the ball from moving till the time came.

There were 5 minutes till the first quarter of the Super Bowl was over. The Patriots and Eagles were neck and neck. I was going as hard as I could, neck and neck with the machine.

“Now or never.” I pushed down the ball. It traveled down, and pushed the marble. The block fell, the string was jerked. The pipes were perfect, but there was one last step. If the ball missed the chess piece, it was all over.

3… The ball traveled down the ramp.

2… The ball was inches from the piece.

1… The ball reached the bottom of the ramp and…

IT KNOCKED OVER! THE BALL KNOCKED OVER THE CHESS PIECE!

I screamed and shouted. The first quarter was over, and so was my project. I ran around the house, drunken with joy. My baby brother was spooked, but I didn’t care. It was an amazing moment.

I enjoyed the rest of the Super Bowl. My team won, but it couldn’t make me any happier than I already was. I’d reached the max in my happiness levels. Now my meter would just keep climbing.

In my success, I must thank one person especially. Of course, I must thank my mom for blocking my brother from my Rube Goldberg area most of the time. My grandma for supporting me. My friends for their kindness. My father for helping me in my moments of need. But most of all, I have to thank my sister. She missed a quarter of her Super Bowl for me. She helped me, did a ton of work, and comforted me so much. She videoed for me over fifty times. If she didn’t get the credit she deserved, I would be a horrible, horrible person.

This project was so important. It will stay with me for a long. But I now that one thing was definitely true, proven by this project. In failure there is now gain, only memories of what could have happened. In success there is a truth that comes out. Many things are great, but can be short lived. Revenge will always be sweet, but success is sweeter.

This is my first stage of my Rube Goldberg project. I’ve broken the whole project into stages to make organization a little easier. Each stage involves approximately four steps.

This is my second stage. It is taken from an above view, so you are looking down on it.

This is my third stage.

This is my fourth stage. It is taken on an entirely different surface and the string attached too the Jenga block here is the same one you see in the third stage.

This is my fifth and final stage. In it, the little speck at the bottom is the chess piece which the marble knocks over.