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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Gary Dahlke of Engineering and Technology, left and Peter Checklick of Safety and Mission Assurance give 'thumbs up' after the successful launch of a small rocket at Launch Pad 39A as part of Rocket University. Leandro James of Systems Hardware Engineering is partially obscured by Dahlke. The goal was to test its systems and to verify that it performed as designed. As part of Rocket University, the engineers are given an opportunity to work a fast-track project to develop skills in developing spacecraft systems of the future. As NASA plans for future spaceflight programs to low-Earth orbit and beyond, teams of engineers at Kennedy are gaining experience in designing and flying launch vehicle systems on a small scale. Four teams of five to eight members from Kennedy are designing rockets complete with avionics and recovery systems. Launch operations require coordination with federal agencies, just as they would with rockets launched in support of a NASA mission. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann