Hello Space Fans!
Even though it was a bit breezy, we wanted to try out our new altimeters and our first rocket motor propelled rocket. Mariya’s Odin III had a leak in the tank coupling and we couldn’t get the pressure over 40 psi. Its altitude was measured at 60 feet. Gary’s NOS-1 was launched twice reaching altitudes of 170 and 179 feet respectively. The Taser was powered by an Estes A8-3 motor and attained 189 feet and at apogee the parachute deployed and the rocket descended slowly to the ground and drifted to the Southwest where it landed on Kwina Road near Lummi HeadStart. Matteo can be seen discussing potential math problems with Mariya, one of his students and John Rombold, Gary, Seth and Brian (the cinematographer) are comparing observations about various physics and engineering issues related to rocket propelled vehicles.
The Critical Design Report for our First Nations Launch is due this Friday. This is a refinement of the Preliminary Design Report that we submitted two weeks ago that earned us a temporary (think multiple Olympic bobsled runs before earning the gold) 1st Place in the FNL competition. There is a bunch more submissions that get scored and contribute to the final total. The project’s high point (pun intended) is on May 1, 2010 where six other Tribal Colleges launch their high powered rockets at the College of Menominee Nation.
This week’s launch is scheduled for Wednesday noonish to accommodate visiting students from the Muckleshoot area. More excitement and experiments!