ROCKET LOG
Entry 1, Day 6 – Day after 1st test fire
Today we will complete the parachute-nose cone coupling. We may also begin work on our fins if we have time.
Entry 2, Day 7 – Day of 2nd test fire
Today we will launch our rocket for the first time. Yesterday we finished the parachute and hopefully it will work.
Entry 3, Day 8 – Work day
It turns out we need to make some adjustments to the parachute. During launch, it ripped out of the rocket, so we need to re-attach it.
Entry 4, Day 9 – Work day
The band saw people were using to cut their fins has broken, which means we cannot cut our fins yet. We will just work out some minor adjustments today.
Entry 5, Day 10 – Work day
Dave got a new band saw, and we have our fins and wooden shims cut. We need to glue them on, but Dave is gone so the epoxy is not available. We will have to do it tomorrow.
Entry 6, Day 11 – Work day
Today we started working on our fins. We glued the fins to the wooden shims, and will glue them to the rocket tomorrow. The launch is probably postponed due to weather. There is another test launch tomorrow.
3 days until new launch.
Entry 7, Day 12 – Work day
Today we finalized our rocket. The fins are glued on and it will be ready to launch tomorrow.
2 days until launch.
Entry 8, Day 13 – Work day
Today we took the rubber bands off the rocket fins. We are completely ready for launch.
1 day until launch.
Entry 9, Day 14 – Final work day
Today we are just making a few final adjustments and preparing ourselves for the launch. Our rocket is completely ready to fly at the launch.
The launch is today at 5:00.
Entry 1, Day 6 – Day after 1st test fire
Today we will complete the parachute-nose cone coupling. We may also begin work on our fins if we have time.
Entry 2, Day 7 – Day of 2nd test fire
Today we will launch our rocket for the first time. Yesterday we finished the parachute and hopefully it will work.
Entry 3, Day 8 – Work day
It turns out we need to make some adjustments to the parachute. During launch, it ripped out of the rocket, so we need to re-attach it.
Entry 4, Day 9 – Work day
The band saw people were using to cut their fins has broken, which means we cannot cut our fins yet. We will just work out some minor adjustments today.
Entry 5, Day 10 – Work day
Dave got a new band saw, and we have our fins and wooden shims cut. We need to glue them on, but Dave is gone so the epoxy is not available. We will have to do it tomorrow.
Entry 6, Day 11 – Work day
Today we started working on our fins. We glued the fins to the wooden shims, and will glue them to the rocket tomorrow. The launch is probably postponed due to weather. There is another test launch tomorrow.
3 days until new launch.
Entry 7, Day 12 – Work day
Today we finalized our rocket. The fins are glued on and it will be ready to launch tomorrow.
2 days until launch.
Entry 8, Day 13 – Work day
Today we took the rubber bands off the rocket fins. We are completely ready for launch.
1 day until launch.
Entry 9, Day 14 – Final work day
Today we are just making a few final adjustments and preparing ourselves for the launch. Our rocket is completely ready to fly at the launch.
The launch is today at 5:00.
DATA TABLE
PROJECT REFLECTION
Even though my rocket didn’t work very well at exhibition, I am still pretty proud of this project. However, I was disappointed and confused when my parachute didn’t open. We had worked very hard on our rocket, and during each test launch our parachute deployed and worked very effectively. Yet at the launch exhibition our parachute did not deploy. I found myself disappointed, and kept thinking I might have done something wrong. Maybe the conditions were different at the launch, or something on the rocket changed the parachute’s performance. I will most likely never know.
I also felt like my group worked very well. I was in a two-person group with Michaelan, and I thought that we really worked well together. If I were to go back and do something differently, I would try to work faster so we would be able to participate in more of the test launches. This way we would have been able to see what we needed to fix, and could have made our rocket more effective. If I were to give advice to next year’s students, I would suggest that they be prepared as soon as they can and refine their rocket as much as possible.
Even though my rocket didn’t work very well at exhibition, I am still pretty proud of this project. However, I was disappointed and confused when my parachute didn’t open. We had worked very hard on our rocket, and during each test launch our parachute deployed and worked very effectively. Yet at the launch exhibition our parachute did not deploy. I found myself disappointed, and kept thinking I might have done something wrong. Maybe the conditions were different at the launch, or something on the rocket changed the parachute’s performance. I will most likely never know.
I also felt like my group worked very well. I was in a two-person group with Michaelan, and I thought that we really worked well together. If I were to go back and do something differently, I would try to work faster so we would be able to participate in more of the test launches. This way we would have been able to see what we needed to fix, and could have made our rocket more effective. If I were to give advice to next year’s students, I would suggest that they be prepared as soon as they can and refine their rocket as much as possible.
CONCLUSION
At the rocket launch exhibition, the angle that our rocket was recorded at at was 61⁰. The observers were 53 meters away from the launch pad, and our actual flight time was 9.65 seconds. To find the max height of our rocket, we put our calculators in degree mode and used this equation: 53tan(angle)=max height. The angle is the angle that was recorded by the observation team, and 53 is the distance in meters of how far away the observers were. It works like the side calculations of a right triangle; the recorded angle is the hypotenuse, the distance of the observation team is the bottom side, and we must solve for the vertical side, which is height. Our equation looked like this: 53tan(61)=96. This told us that the height of our rocket was 96 meters. We then needed to find the average velocity in meters/second. To find this, we used the equation: total trip/time=average velocity. To find the total trip, we had to find the max height of our rocket, and then doubled it to account for the trip down. We then found the time it took for the entire trip. We divided the total trip by the amount of time the flight took, and got our average velocity, which was 17 m/s. Next we needed to calculate the theoretical flight time of our rocket. We knew our actual flight time was 9.65 seconds, and in order to find the theoretical flight time we used the equation t=√max height/0.5a. This means that total flight time=√of max height/half the acceleration of gravity. Our theoretical flight time was 8.85 seconds. The last thing we needed to calculate was our % error. To do this, we subtract our theoretical flight time from our actual flight time, divide the difference by the theoretical flight time, and multiply that by 100. The % error for our group was 9%. This percentage is directly affected by the air friction caused by the deployment of the parachute. Our parachute did not deploy, so our % error is very low. However, for rockets that did deploy their parachute, the % error would be higher since the air friction is slowing the rocket and changing the times recorded for the flights.
At the rocket launch exhibition, the angle that our rocket was recorded at at was 61⁰. The observers were 53 meters away from the launch pad, and our actual flight time was 9.65 seconds. To find the max height of our rocket, we put our calculators in degree mode and used this equation: 53tan(angle)=max height. The angle is the angle that was recorded by the observation team, and 53 is the distance in meters of how far away the observers were. It works like the side calculations of a right triangle; the recorded angle is the hypotenuse, the distance of the observation team is the bottom side, and we must solve for the vertical side, which is height. Our equation looked like this: 53tan(61)=96. This told us that the height of our rocket was 96 meters. We then needed to find the average velocity in meters/second. To find this, we used the equation: total trip/time=average velocity. To find the total trip, we had to find the max height of our rocket, and then doubled it to account for the trip down. We then found the time it took for the entire trip. We divided the total trip by the amount of time the flight took, and got our average velocity, which was 17 m/s. Next we needed to calculate the theoretical flight time of our rocket. We knew our actual flight time was 9.65 seconds, and in order to find the theoretical flight time we used the equation t=√max height/0.5a. This means that total flight time=√of max height/half the acceleration of gravity. Our theoretical flight time was 8.85 seconds. The last thing we needed to calculate was our % error. To do this, we subtract our theoretical flight time from our actual flight time, divide the difference by the theoretical flight time, and multiply that by 100. The % error for our group was 9%. This percentage is directly affected by the air friction caused by the deployment of the parachute. Our parachute did not deploy, so our % error is very low. However, for rockets that did deploy their parachute, the % error would be higher since the air friction is slowing the rocket and changing the times recorded for the flights.
