At a Glance:
Students hand-build a model rocket with fins, nosecone, solid-fuel engine, and parachute recovery system.
Concepts:
Students learn the basics of rocketry, including stability, propulsion, and recovery systems by constructing and launching a solid-fuel rocket.
Details: A rocket body, or airframe, is fashioned by rolling a sheet of typing paper around a plastic tube and then spiraling 11" of gummed tape around the typing paper. After trimming the ends of the airframe, the plastic tube is removed. Using a pattern, rocket fins are cut out from coated fin material and glued to the rocket body. (Pitsco's Rocket Fin Holder, sold separately, is recommended for this task; however, a manual fin placement method is described in the instructions.)
A recovery system, consisting of a parachute, an elasticized shock cord, and a shock cord anchor, is constructed and attached to the rocket and its nose cone. This system ensures that the rockets return safely to Earth so they can be launched again.
The propulsion system is assembled next. An engine mount is assembled, inserted into the airframe, and glued in place. Then, a solid-fuel engine is positioned inside the engine mount. Flameproof material is packed into the opposite end of the rocket (to protect the parachute from the heat of the eject charge), followed by the folded parachute, and topped by the nose cone. An igniter that uses electrical current to produce a flame is inserted into the rocket-engine propellant and is capped with a plug that holds the igniter in place.
Rockets are launched with Pitsco's LaunchGuard (recommended for numerous yearly launches) or an Estes Launcher; both are remotely controlled electronic devices with built-in safety features that prevent unplanned launches.
At a Glance:
Students hand-build a model rocket with fins, nosecone, solid-fuel engine, and parachute recovery system.
