CMRc 2022 - nasa student launch competition
CMRc 2022 - nasa student launch competition
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In 2022, Carnegie Mellon Rocket Command went to the NASA Student Launch Competition in Huntsville, Alabama. We targeted an apogee of 4500 feet, and launched to 4450 feet.
Motor Selection
Motor Selection
We launched with a L-class motor. Open-rocket simulation suggests that this motor would be enough to launch our rocket to an apogee of above 4500 feet, and our plan was to use the airbraking Apogee Targeting System to reduce the apogee to 4500 feet.
Apogee Targeting System
Apogee Targeting System
Our airbraking system, the ATS, was designed to extend flaps from slots cut in the ATS coupler. These flaps would increase the drag coefficient of the overall launch vehicle, which would allow us to control the apogee of the vehicle in closed-loop control.
We performed FEA analysis on the ATS system to ensure that (a) the flaps would not fail under normal loading conditions, and (b) that if the flaps were to be jammed by some extenuating circumstance, the linkage would fail before the servo did.
Rocket Structures
Rocket Structures
The launch vehicle was a single-stage, dual-deployment vehicle. The Drogue chute was intended to deploy at apogee, and the main was deployed at 550 feet above the ground. The rocket had an internal diameter of 6 inches, and was 10.5 feet long. It included couplers for the Payload, ATS, and Recovery subsystems.
Fabrication
Fabrication
On this project, I was primarily responsible for machining components for the ATS. To do this, I used the CNC Router to machine all of the flat components, including links and flaps. I used the CNC Milling machine to machine the remainder of the components, including the flap guides. I used the manual milling machine to remove sacrificial material, and finished parts with the belt sander and sand blaster.
Launch
Launch
On Launch Day, we launched the vehicle in Huntsville, Alabama. The vehicle hit apogee at 4450 feet, 50 feet short of our target apogee. However, due to circumstances that we have yet to determine, the vehicle apogee without ATS deployment was more than 500 feet below OpenRocket predictions. The ATS predicted this correctly and did not deploy. However, on previous test launches, the ATS deployed correctly.
Bagpiper Launch 3 short - Competition.mp4Page updated
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