Pittsburgh Space Command

EST 1986

"Western Pennsylvania's Model Rocket Club"

2011 - National Champions


To all PSC members & Friends:

Because COVID rules are being established at the state/county and in some cases city level, it is impossible for the NAR to create a policy that is one-size fits all. Therefore, they are leaving the task of developing and implementing the COVID-19 plan to each NAR Section. Thus, with guidance from NAR, we have taken the following position and will be implementing the guidelines below for all remaining 2020 PSC Launches. On Friday, PA governor Wolf issued an executive order placing our launch site, which is in Mercer County, into what is termed the "partially reopened" phase until June 5th when Mercer County goes to "Green" or reopened. In the green phase, overnight camps and organized youth sports can operate, while restaurants and bars, salons and barber shops, gyms, theaters, malls and casinos can open at half of capacity. Other businesses serving the public in a building or defined area can only operate at as much as 75% of capacity. People will still be asked to wear masks in public, and enforce social distancing requirements and the frequent washing of hands as recommended by the CDC and the DOH, while limiting social, recreational, and sporting events and other large gatherings to under 250 people. In addition to monitoring the State of PA orders, PSC keeps up to date on the guidelines issued by the National Association of Rocketry (NAR). NAR updated its policy on NAR sections recommending we follow all applicable national, state, and local requirements, restrictions, and recommendations.

The PSC "Calendar of Events" up to now have been cancelled. In addition to the five sport & HP launches scheduled for the balance of this launch season, PSC had four scheduled events, SCST-XX, R&R Picnic, CMMF-VIII, and the Joint PSC/Tripoli Launch in November. As of now all of these events, are "on hold" and may be rescheduled later in the year. Our monthly Sport & HP launches for the remainder of 2020 will be held on June 7th with a rain date of June 6th, July 12th, August 16th, September 20th, October 17th and November 8th. We encourage all those interested in sport or high power rocketry to attend. The December 6th business planning meeting will most likely be a "virtual" meeting. More on that later in the year.

The following are a list of guidelines we will be following at all launches through the balance of 2020.

  1. We ask that each person who plans to attend a launch "pre-check" themselves before leaving their homes for the site. This includes a temperature check. Any individual with a cold or flu is required to stay home.
  2. To improve social distancing, we will be using 5 individual pads for sport launches versus the gang launch pad.
  3. We will be establishing a check in lane at all launches to maintain social distancing of 6' or greater.
  4. Cars will be required to park a minimum of 10' from each other.
  5. Since we are outside, masks are not required provided we maintain adequate social distancing. However, the wearing of a mask will be required if you are within a person's 6' radius. We want everyone attending the launch to feel safe and comfortable.
  6. For all "high power" and certification launches, we will be requiring gloves and masks for tests, and model check-in. Also, each individual is to bring their own pen for certification flights.
  7. Each individual is responsible for bringing their own masks, hand sanitizer, wipes and gloves. We will not have a porta john on site during any 2020 launches or events.
Just to reiterate - we will not rush to re-engage in our activities. We have little appetite to start our re-engagement with an activity that traditionally has drawn several dozen participants. We intend to ramp up our activities in a progressive manner that places a priority on the public health of our membership and guests. I ask that all members please adhere to the intent and spirit of this policy and help to protect all who would be attending a launch from the possible infection of this virus. We look forward to seeing you at this Sunday's launch.

Although unlikely, if for some reason we were to be moved back to yellow, we would be requiring pre-registration roughly 2 days prior to each launch to assure no more than 25 people with the possibility of two launch shifts. The registration link developed by Duane Wilkey is http://pscdemo.heliohost.org/registration.html. I wanted you to be aware we had a contingency plan in place had the launch site remained in yellow.

Thank you.

John Pace
President
PSC 473


Welcome!  The Pittsburgh Space Command is a model rocket club and a sanctioned section of the National Association of Rocketry (NAR).  Since its inception the club has brought rocketeers together from all over Western Pennsylvania and has safely launched over 22,000 model rockets.  If you are new to rocketry check out our ROCKETS 101 page.  If you are a rocketeer looking to share your hobby with other people please feel free to come to one of our monthly launches and see what we are all about.

If you have a question for us or would like to have us

put on a demo launch click here or call our president at 724-316-9523