History

Team Name: Vulcan I

The 2025 Student Launch payload design tasked the team with developing a STEMnaut flight capsule capable of safely retaining four STEMnauts and autonomously transmitting critical data via radio frequency to a NASA-owned receiver after landing. The payload is required to collect and relay selected mission parameters, such as landing time, apogee, landing velocity, temperature at the landing site, and crew survivability estimates. All transmissions occur post-landing, ensuring compliance with competition rules, and simulate real-world spacecraft communication protocols for future exploration missions.

Team Name: Project Zeus II

The 2023 Student Launch payload design tasked the team to create a payload capable upon landing self orientating to be perpendicualr to the horizon autonomously receiving RF commands and performing a series of tasks with an on-board camera system.

This marks the second year JMU students participate in the NASA SLI competition.

Team Name: Project Zeus I

The 2022 Student Launch Payload design tasked the team to create a payload capable of autonomously locating the launch vehicle upon landing by identifying the launch vehicle’s grid position on an aerial image of the launch site without the use of a global positioning system (GPS).  

This marks the first year JMU students started participation in the NASA SLI competition. The team won the first place AIAA Rookie Award.

Former Website: https://jmurocketry.wixsite.com/website-1