December 12, 2012
This past November fifty members of the Longhorn Rocket Association (LRA), a student-run amateur rocketry group at The University of Texas, gathered in Hutto, Texas for one of a series of rocket launches scheduled to take place this academic year. The organization’s mission is to enhance the aerospace engineering student experience by applying classroom knowledge toward designing, building and launching their own rockets.
Twenty-two low and high-powered rockets were launched during the event hosted by the Austin Area Rocketry Group (AARG).
“We decided to launch with AARG because they launch at a high impulse field. We can launch rockets as high as 16,000 feet, so we are able to choose from a variety of motor sizes,” certification group leader Joel Chambers said.
The Austin Area Rocketry Group is the local chapter of the National Association of Rocketry and one of the local prefectures of the Tripoli Rocketry Association. The National Association of Rocketry is the oldest and largest sport rocketry organization in the world.
“We needed to launch with a national organization for high-power certification purposes. Vendors won’t provide teams with high impulse motors unless they are certified at a certain level. Before this launch, we drove out to West Texas because there was a larger area to launch from and they would sponsor our projects. With certified team leads, we can now sponsor our own projects.”
Before the launch, members spent two months constructing their rockets from scratch. They built body tubes, carved foam for nose cones, cut fins out of plywood and designed their own parachutes. The certification group members built high-powered rockets that involved more advanced composite material fabrication and construction techniques. All of the parts were made in-house except for the parachutes and motors.
Members focused on applying a variety of engineering principles to their rocket building process. They paid special attention to improving the structural integrity of the rockets.
“In year’s past, we had problems with structural failure with our high powered rocket projects,” Chambers said. “We knew something needed to be done to become more successful. So we created a certification group to shift our focus towards individual members becoming certified to launch high-powered rockets. Becoming certified provides the opportunity for learning rocketry from the bottom up, including design, fabrication, construction, recovery, how various types of motors work, etc.”
This year, the LRA has already improved its high power rocket recovery rate from 20 to 100 percent. Both their high-power and low-power rockets have been successful.
“It was a great launch,” Chambers said. “Every single flight except for the low-power staged rocket was successful. We identified where the mistake was – a problem programming the flight computer. Plus, everyone who attempted certifications, succeeded. We have had twelve successful certification attempts this semester.”
Now that the launch is over, members will focus on their next project – building five high- powered team rockets. Each rocket will be unique – including a staged rocket, a rocket with sensors to retrieve flight data about stress and strain loads, a drag race rocket and a modular design rocket. The certification group will also continue to build another round of high-powered rockets and possibly see two members to level three certification (highest level).
The members’ new certifications will be especially helpful as one of the teams plans to enter a national competition hosted by Students for the Exploration and Development of Space in the spring 2013 semester.
