Experimental Sounding Rocket Workshops

Update 4/25/08
* The next Experimental Sounding Rocket Workshop has been canceled.

Each August, ESRA conducts Experimental Sounding Rocket Workshops for college teams interested in starting a rocket program for participation in the launch competitions. At these workshops, students and faculty members are shown the design process and rationale behind the “Tropos” series of hybrid rockets.

These rockets are approximately 10 inches in diameter, 13 feet long, and have custom (not commercial) hybrid motors. They generate approximately 600 pounds of thrust at liftoff and burn for approximately 10 seconds to reach an altitude of 10,000 feet above ground level. They are capable of launching a 20-pound payload to this altitude. They are designed to be built with parts, materials, and propellants costing less than $1500. They are also designed to be fully recoverable, to be launched repeatedly with only the cost of propellants for additional launches.

In the workshop, the participants learn to do basic performance calculations, how to manufacture various rocket components (nozzles, nose cones, etc.), how to pack parachutes, and how to cast the 4-inch-diameter hybrid motor. They also learn how to load the nitrous oxide oxidizer and conduct a static motor firing. And finally, they get to travel to a launch site and launch the Tropos.

First Experimental Sounding Rocket Workshop

Students from Seattle Central Community College attended the first workshop, held at Utah State University on August 9-12 2006.

• They learned how to cast a hybrid motor with synthetic rubber.
• They performed a static firing of the Tropos 1 rocket.

• They packed the parachute and completed the rocket for launch.

• They launched the Tropos at a site west of Salt Lake City.

Launch Video - (.mpg) 8.66MB.

Unfortunately, the parachute was not able to deploy at the peak altitude (apogee). It deployed later, after the rocket had picked up significant speed on the way back down. The chute was torn from the rocket and the rocket impacted the ground at high velocity. Flight data was not recovered.

Second Experimental Sounding Rocket Workshop

* Update 4/25/08
The Second Experimental Sounding Rocket Workshop has been canceled.
Contact for more details.

The next Experimental Sounding Rocket Workshop has been postponed until June 2008, right before the third launch competition. The tentative schedule is to have the workshop on the Monday through Wednesday before the competition, drive to Green River on Wednesday night, and then launch the workshop rocket on the first day of the competition (Thursday) as a non-competing demonstration launch. Then workshop participants are welcome to watch the rest of the competition as they desire.

As part of this change, the workshop will show how to build a smaller version of the Tropos rocket, the "Tropos Jr.". This rocket will also be a HTPB/nitrous oxide hybrid, but use a smaller motor and tank arrangement that should be less expensive and easier to build than the Tropos 1. The overall airframe is expected to be about 8 feet long and 8 inches in diameter. While the goal was to have parts and materials costs for the Tropos 1 less than $1500, the goal for the Tropos Jr. will be less than $1000, with less machining required as well.

Please stay tuned for updates on the progress of the Tropos Jr. design.

Summary

The second workshop will be held in June 2008 at Utah State University.

Participants will assemble and test the “Tropos 2” rocket, an improved version of the Tropos 1.

An addition to the workshop will be a recovery systems test. In this test, the nosecone and recovery system will be pneumatically launched to approximately 500 feet altitude to test proper deployment.

The workshop will again include performance calculations, component fabrication, motor casting, static firing, and launch.

Schedule

Wednesday

8:00     Welcome/Intro
9:00     Basics of Experimental Sounding Rockets/Hybrid Demo
9:45     Break
10:00   Tropos 2 Overview
11:00   Tropos 2 Motor Design

Noon   Lunch Discussion: Regulatory Issues and Safety

1:00     Tropos 2 Motor Casting
4:00     Composites Manufacturing: Tropos 2 Reducer Layup

6:00     Dinner/Social

 

Thursday

8:00     Overall Design Approach/Sequence of Major Tests
9:00     Flight Performance/Stability
9:45     Break
10:00   Propulsion Calculations
11:00   Tropos 2 Oxidizer System and Injector

12:00   Lunch Discussion: Different Ways to Run a Student Program

1:00     Tropos 2 Fuselage Assembly and Mounting on Launch Rail
3:00     Oxidizer/Injector Flow Test
5:00     Install Motor; Group Photo

5:30     Working Dinner at Launch Rail
 
6:30     Transport Launch Rail to Airport
8:00     Motor Static Firing at Logan/Cache Airport

 

Friday

8:00     Tropos 2 Airframe Design
9:00     Tropos 2 Avionics Design
9:45     Break
10:00   Tropos 2 Recovery System
11:00   Tropos 2 Parachute Packing

12:00   Lunch Discussion: Operations

1:00     Pneumatic Parachute Test
4:00     Repack Parachute, Final Rocket Preparations

6:00     Dinner (on your own; don’t party too late—see start time below)

 

Saturday

6:00     Assemble at Launch Rail for Travel to Launch Site
9:00     Arrive at Launch Site, Place Launch Rail
10:00   Brunch/Safety Briefing/Weather Observation
11:00   Go/No-Go Decision
11:00-4:00       Oxidizer Loading
                        Placement of Observers
                        Spectators to Viewing Area
                        Final Checks
                        T-5 minute announcement
                        Countdown and Launch
                        Recovery and Retrieval
                        Prepare Launch Rail for Return

4:00     Return to USU/Travel to SLC airport

 

Sunday

Backup Launch Day or Individual Questions/Demonstrations
Registration for Small Satellite Conference

Maps

Lodging and Parking:

Registration

Registration is required for the workshop by July 8, 2007. Currently only mail-in registration by check is available. Registration fees are designed to allow for large team participation without excessive cost. Fees are as follows for each college or university team:

First two participants, $200.00 each
Next four participants, $100.00 each
Each additional participant, $50.00 each

Included in each registration are lunches, the opening dinner social, and T-shirts. In addition, each team receives design documentation for the Tropos rocket.

Teams will be required to provide their own transportation to the various test sites and the rocket launch site.

Teams may also purchase a Tropos motor grain with nozzle since motor casting requires some specialized equipment.

Motor grain with nozzle: $200.00