The Aero Mavs Rocketry team is the oldest and most historical aspect of the organization. Founded in 2008 as "Rocket Mavericks", the rocketry team has competed in dozens of competitions since its start and has grown enormously over time as well. The two largest and most recent competitions the team has taken part in are the NASA University Student Launch Initiative and IREC Spaceport America Cup competitions.
The Aero Mavs Rocketry team is made up of multiple subteams: ASAP (aerodynamics, structural analysis, & propulsion), Electrical Systems, Manufacturing, as well as a Liquid Rocket Engine research team. Members are encouraged to join whichever subteam appears most interesting to them and are welcome to help out in more than one subteam as well. Previous experience in any of these categories is not required, as we will teach you everything we can about anything you wish to know, all you need is the will to learn!
Another key aspect of being a part of the rocketry team is that you are able to design, build, and fly your very own rocket that you will be able to keep afterwards. This is one of the most hands-on and interactive activities you can do as a rocketry team member, and is an excellent way to quickly learn more about all kinds of rocketry concepts.
The current general workdays for the rocketry team are on Saturdays at 9:00 am in the Aero Mavs
lab, room 113 in Woolf Hall.
The Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC), otherwise known as the Spaceport America Cup, is the primary competition that the Aero Mavs are currently participating in. This is an international competition that is held just outside the Virgin Galactic Spaceport facility in Spaceport, New Mexico each year. The competition entails a week long trip to New Mexico where the team presents their rocket in a massive poster session with all the other teams in the nearby town of Las Cruces and then gets to launch said rocket at the Spaceport launch site the next day. Leading up to the final awards ceremony at the end of the week, the team is also able to travel and share great experiences together by doing activities like hiking in the mountains, visiting local space and aviation sites, as well as late night stargazing in the desert.