Genesis of the WBPP: Wernher von Braun Pijama Party

When the team first joint together at the Korelev Lab of the Delft Aerospace Rocket Society, there was a mixture of tension and excitement in everyone's eyes. As the teams were formed, a thin layer of rivalry and competition appeared. When the member of what then would have been called the WBPP came together, it was clear that everyone was coming from different background having different expertise; would that be enough to achieve the mission? How cultural differences in the team would have been overcame?

What about the name for the team?

A pyjama party is a festive get together. Depending on your stage in life the association with a pyjama party changes, a change of perspective that also reflects on the life of Wernher von Braun. Wernher von Braun’s Pyjama Party stands for getting new insights during a group process based around a shared goal, but most of all having fun.

Everyone was questioning weather or not the team he/she ended up was the right one and weather the mission could be accomplished in the future. Those teams that did manage to bring the payload back to the ground were seen as invincible: those rockets, which made it in the past, were conserved in the Korelev Lab like ancient god amulets.
The mission was clear: " Every rocket has to fly to a maximum of 1000 meters mounting an egg as a payload and recovering it completely intact after the touch down".

Easy job for a young team of engineers right?

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