Members of Girl Scout Troop 46319, the first rocketry troop in the Girl Scouts organization, made history June 24 when they were one of just a handful of teams to help launch United Launch Alliance’s future heavy intern rocket. The rocket — a 53-foot-tall sport rocket — launched at Spaceport America in New Mexico during the Spaceport America Cup International Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition.

Founded in January, Troop 46319 was created specifically for rocketry as a way to introduce local girls to science, technology, engineering and math. The Girl Scouts organization sent out an email asking for interested girls to get involved, and six girls chose to be part of the initial troop. Membership numbers were intentionally kept small so the troop would have time and space to figure out its new role.

“This is the first time Girl Scouts has ever had a rocketry troop,” said Laura Clark, troop leader of Troop 46319. “It’s been kind of exciting. It’s been a learning experience, because nobody knew what to expect. The leaders are learning, too. It’s a whole new endeavor we kind of went in on.”

Clark has been in the Girl Scouts since she was a girl in 1986 and has served as a leader since 2003.

The six Girl Scouts who made up the troop for this first rocketry launch — Abigail Tussey, Amy Cinnamon, Ana Garcia, Ashley Raugust, Daphne Bennett and Emily Clark — didn’t know each other well before joining. But shortly after they agreed to be part of the new troop, they had to write a proposal together that outlined their design and construction plan for a payload (onboard instruments and experiments deployed after a launch) for the ULA rocket. Scores of organizations also submitted proposals for payload ideas, but only a handful were accepted.

“The proposals were pretty intense. It was like you’d do for any large organization,” Clark said. “Most of these girls had no experience in STEM or any type of rocketry, and they really came out learning a lot.”

Clark’s daughter, Emily, said she was excited to be part of it.

“I’m really interested in space and aeronautics and science in general,” Emily said. “And I thought that this would be a great opportunity to learn about rockets.” Emily will start ninth grade at Rampart High School in the fall.

Troop 46319 began their exploring of rocketry by building their rockets for a special investiture ceremony. This experiment helped them quickly learn how small design changes could powerfully impact the motor in their rocket.

After some research, the Scouts chose to fill their payload for ULA with a cluster of gliders that make a swarm configuration pattern before reaching the ground.

The goal, Clark said, was to “design the group of gliders with distinctive flight characteristics so each one’s flight pattern was unique and … created a swarmlike behavior in their decent. Such a swarm could potentially be used for a myriad of scientific purposes, from gathering meteorological data to ground-mapping and chemical warfare.”

The scouts also got to fill another payload for the ULA rocket — and this time, they decided to just have fun. They filled the second payload with glitter and streamers. “When that exploded, you could see it,” Clark said.

The day before the launch, the girls checked to make sure their payload fit on the rocket, and they found it to be slightly large, making it a tight fit.“We were worried that the payload wouldn’t eject,” Emily said. “So the night before (the launch), we were sanding down our payloads in a hotel.”

The Scouts had to reconstruct the exterior of their payload the night before the launch, but Clark said the girls handled it well and problem-solved together.

On the day of the launch, everything went smoothly. The girls successfully loaded the payloads on the rocket and then watched their hard work pay off.

“We were at least a mile away from where the rocket launched, and you could feel the ground shake,” Clark said. “It went perfectly. We could see the payload go down, and the girls were so thrilled.”

Emily said the experience has made her want to explore different areas of space.

“I don’t really want to go to space or anything like that, but I want to help people get there,” she said. “I’ll most likely pursue a career in technology or software or something like that.”

Emily also said she learned the importance of teamwork under pressure. “A lot of things can go wrong, but there’s always a way to fix it.”

Troop 46319 will open up to more girls in the fall, and members are excited to continue introducing local girls to STEM projects in a hands-on, team-building way.

“It’s just been really, really successful,” Clark said. “Way more successful than I anticipated.”

Members of Girl Scout Troop 46319 wrote a proposal and crafted a payload idea that United Launch Alliance selected to use on its rocket. Photo courtesy of Laura Clark

Members of Girl Scout Troop 46319 watch the launch of United Launch Alliance’s rocket June 24. The troops made a payload that went on board the rocket. Photo courtesy of Laura Clark

Members of Girl Scout Troop 46319 watch the launch of United Launch Alliance’s rocket June 24. The troops made a payload that went on board the rocket. Photo courtesy of Laura Clark

Girl Scout Emily Clark said she wants to pursue a career in technology to help others get to space. She enjoyed getting to learn more through the rocketry experience. Photo courtesy of Laura Clark

Members of Girl Scout Troop 46319 wrote a proposal and crafted a payload idea that United Launch Alliance selected to use on its rocket. Photo courtesy of Laura Clark

Members of Girl Scout Troop 46319 watch the launch of United Launch Alliance’s rocket June 24. The troops made a payload that went on board the rocket. Photo courtesy of Laura Clark

Members of Girl Scout Troop 46319 watch the launch of United Launch Alliance’s rocket June 24. The troops made a payload that went on board the rocket. Photo courtesy of Laura Clark

Girl Scout Emily Clark said she wants to pursue a career in technology to help others get to space. She enjoyed getting to learn more through the rocketry experience. Photo courtesy of Laura Clark