L3 Certification
A rocket designed to achieve Level 3 High Power Certification for a Rutgers RPL teammate.
21' - 21'
* This project belongs to Aryanna Arcilla. Most work and preparation was done by Aryanna with guidance from Alexander Sanducu and Zachariah Clark. I came in near the end to aid in rocket manufacturing, assembly, and launch-day logistics. *
Manufacturing
Circuitry
Contribution |
I came in at the later stages of building this rocket, mainly working on rocket assembly. I was also part of the launch team, ensuring successful flight by performing quality analysis, final assembly, and recovery on the field. However, I think the most crucial part of this launch didn't have anything to do with the rocket, but rather the transition of leadership between founders Alex and Zack, and the new captain, Aryanna. As close friends and colleagues of Alex and Zack, as well as one of the longest-standing RRPL members at the time, I felt it was my responsibility this transition went smoothly. As much as I love the two, I'm aware of a tendency for RRPL to turn into the 'Zack and Alex Show'. I spoke a lot with Aryanna and a bit with Alex and Zack about making this launch Aryanna's show. Though things weren't going as planned in the beginning, I think I helped the team get to where it needed to be by the end of the launch. RRPL lives on, with Aryanna still leading at the time I'm writing this so I'm quite happy about that. |
Improvement |
There were 2 mistakes with the rocket: the main parachute didn't deploy and the drogue parachute was too large. The ejection charge for the main chute short circuited, so that's an easy fix with better quality control next time. Even without the main chute, the rocket still had a safe recovery, and that's because the drogue chute had too large a diameter: 45 in. this resulted in a descent of 47 ft./s, around half the speed it should. Because of this, it was actually good the main chute didn't deploy, as the wind may have taken the rocket too far out of our reach. A drogue chute with a diameter between 20-30 in. would be more appropriate according to calculations. |
Material |