Charlie Fenske '18 and the Future of Spaceflight

Earlier this month, Virgin Galactic flew Charlie Fenske ’18 to Washington, DC, to celebrate the donation of “RocketMotorTwo” to the collection of artifacts at the National Air and Space Museum. Dubbed by the Guinness Book of World Records the "most powerful hybrid rocket to be used in manned flight,” the artifact will be part of the “Future of Spaceflight” exhibit at the Museum scheduled to open in 2024.

Charlie, a first-year student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has long been interested in aerospace engineering. In 2016, he won a first-place award in Google's Global Science Fair and the Virgin Galactic award for his Falmouth Academy science project, "Analysis of Rocket Guidance Systems in a Wind Tunnel to Enhance Space Flight Maneuverability and Efficiency." The following year he won second place in engineering at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, and first place at the Massachusetts State Science and Engineering Fair for his work.

To learn more about how Falmouth Academy and it's Science and Engineering Fair nurtured and prepared Charlie for his aerospace journey, please watch the two short videos below.