Meeting Log 10

Group meeting on Wednesday 12/1. Meeting duration: 2 hours. All members in attendance.


Topics discussed:

• Final review of report draft.
• Rehearse presentation

To do:

• Rehearse presentation
• Print all documents
• Burn presentation to CD.

Meeting Log 9

Group meeting on Tuesday 11/30. Meeting duration: 2 hours. All members in attendance.


Topics discussed:

• Assembled draft of final report
• Began building presentation
• Touch up completed rocket.

To Do

• Proofread and finalize the report
• Finish script for presentation

Meeting Log 8

Group meeting on Tuesday 11/23. Meeting duration: 30 minutes. All members in attendance.


Topics discussed:

• Final breakdown for written report
• Outline for presentation
• Next meeting scheduled

To Do:

• Final report rough draft
• Paint rocket

Rocket Construction

Rocket was constructed over the course of approximately three days. Nov 8-10.

The rocket components. They are arranged in roughly where they will be on the rocket once its fully assembled.

 Homemade motor retainer. It had to be trimmed for length and sanded to fit on the motor mount.

Motor retainer being test fit over the end of the 38mm motor mount tube.

 Motor retainer, 38mm to 29mm adapter and motor mount test fit.

Motor mount under assembly. Front bulkhead being epoxied into place.

Motor mount in place in the rocket, glued at front bulkhead with shock cord hanging out the back to keep it out of the glue. The fins are in place and epoxy which will hold them in place is curing. Note: the rear bulkhead around the motor mount is NOT epoxied yet.

Once the epoxy on the fins cured, the rear bulkhead was removed and epoxy fillets were added to the fin-motor mount joints and the interior fin-body joints. Once cured, the rear bulkhead was also epoxied into place.

Attachment point for the payload bay. The coupler tube with the payload bay bulkhead are clearly visible. The eye hook will connect the payload bay to the shock cord and body of the rocket for flight.

Top view of the piston ejection system. It is connected to the middle of the shock cord and will slide freely through the body tube of the rocket. When the ejection charge fires, the piston will protect the parachute and recovery system from the hot gasses and safely deploy the parachute from the rocket.

Bottom view of the piston.

Rear bulkhead epoxied into place. The motor mount extends slightly so the motor retainer can be fitted on the end.

Motor retainer and 38mm to 29mm adapter being test fit over the motor mount installed in the rocket.

The nearly-completed rocket. The payload bay is not installed in this photo. It can easily be added or removed between the nosecone and the body of the rocket. Only the launch lugs remain to be epoxied onto the rocket. For scale, the protractor above the rocket has a diameter of 6 inches.

Meeting Log 7

Group meeting on Thursday 11/11. Meeting duration: 1 hour. All members in attendance.


Topics discussed:

• Cost breakdown for the project hardware
• Arranged carpool to launch, weather pending.

To Do:

• Upload pictures from the construction of the rocket
• Paint rocket
• Outline final report
• Modify payload bay for camera viewport

Meeting Log 6

Group meeting on Thursday 11/4. Meeting duration: 30 minutes. All members in attendance.


Topics Discussed:

• Completed the midterm progress report. It will be converted to PDF and submitted by the weekend.
• Assessed the project status and what still needs to be done.

To Do for next week:

• Majority of the assembly of the rocket.
• Continue running simulations of various rocket design variations.

Meeting Log 5

Group meeting on Thursday 10/21. Meeting duration: 1 hour. All members in attendance.


Topics discussed:

• Began brainstorming for report and presentation.
• Drafted email to professor with questions about the course requirements.
• Pending response from professor and NEFAR representative, parts will be ordered no later than 10/27.
• Compiled a partial list of misc. construction supplies that will be sourced locally (primer, paint, clear coat, epoxies, etc.).

To Do:

• Email professor.
• Email NEFAR representative
• Continue building outline for report and presentation.
• Assess buying/making an altimeter for the rocket.