Carm

CARM featured a dual-deploy recovery system. At apogee, the booster section splits from the rest of the rocket and releases a drogue parachute. This parachute slows the descent of the rocket considerably, allowing the larger, main parachute to deploy later on and minimizing the chances of any failures in the recovery system. The dual deploy method is also desirable because it restricts the cross-range distance of the flight. If the main parachute deployed at apogee, the rocket could float far away, making recovery much more difficult. 

The primary body tubes that transfer the loads from the motor up the rocket were made of filament-wound G-12 fiberglass. This material was selected primarily due to its high strength-to-weight ratio. The commercial availability, low cost, and RF transparency also made it an attractive material.

The rocket was divided into three main areas: the booster, the avionics bay, and the nose cone. All three were constructed primarily out of the G-12 fiberglass. The booster’s primary functions are to transfer load from the motor to the rest of the rocket and ensure flight stability through rigid fins. It provides the backbone for the entire structure of the rocket; thus, great care was taken in its design and construction. CARM had four fins secured with centering rings running through the interior of the booster. The fins protruded through the fiberglass walls of the booster. This through-the-wall configuration was selected to maximize the rigidity of the fins. The fins were further reinforced with tip-to-tip fiberglass layups. The layups minimize the impact of bending moments, which could break the fins through fin-flutter or other aerodynamic stresses.