As winter break comes to an end, our team has been preparing for the busiest time of year. Earlier today, Adam Vogel and Pedro Oliveira picked up Pedro’s certification rocket from Wildman’s Rocketry Supplies in Van Orin, Illinois. We plan to fly that rocket in Princeton, IL at a Quad Cities Rocketry Society (QCRS) launch on January 27. This gives us two weeks from our return to campus to have Pedro’s rocket built and ready to fly. In addition to our certification rocket, we will begin planning our rocket motor mixing sessions, deciding on a commercial quadcopter to eject from our Argonia rocket and purchasing the fiberglass components of our Argonia rocket.
The motor mixing will be overseen by team member Jessica Jurak, as well as professor of chemistry Dr. Gary Kinsel. In the coming weeks I (Adam Vogel) will be reviewing our extensive safety procedures with them and the entire team as we prepare to begin mixing.
As for the delivery drone, we have decided to go commercial. Designing our own quadcopter from scratch proved to be more time consuming than expected and with a failed first flight, more costly as well. I would like to explain more about the drones we are looking at purchasing, but in the event a rival team were to read this, I will wait until after the Argonia Cup.
I will say that we require a larger rocket than expected to carry our drone. Ideally we will be able to reach the required 8,000 feet on a fiberglass rocket but if our flight simulations say otherwise we may have to look into wildly expensive carbon fiber components instead. In addition to modifying the rocket itself, we will also be flying essentially the largest motor that the competition allows, in hopes of crossing 8,000 feet with ease.
In addition to all of the above events, we are also beginning our annual fundraiser tomorrow. Larger rockets and commercial drones can be very expensive and we will not be able to compete this year without the generosity of our donors.
If you have any questions about what our team does, how you can help, or how you can join our team, send me an email at adam.vogel@siu.edu.
Over and out,
Adam Vogel