Florida Institute of Technology
Rocket Team 2006
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Summary Mishaal Ashemimry
The goal for this project is to send a spin stabilized rocket to the peak of the troposphere, or approximately 60,000 feet (18.28 km). During ascent, the rocket will expel fuel exhaust with aluminum particles. These aluminum particles are detectable by radar (borrowed from the Naval Base at Cape Canaveral) and can be interpreted into data by meteorologists in terms of winds or circulation in the atmosphere. Any type of circulation in the air can be a sign of adverse weather, so any detection of strong winds or circulation could signal the possibility of a storm, which may or may not affect the launch schedule. Once the rocket has reached its maximum altitude, it will come down via parachute. The slow decent of the rocket by parachute will allow data to be collected in the atmosphere. The meteorology team members propose to add equipment and sensors that are capable of measuring water vapor in the air, which in turn can be interpreted into the relative humidity. The relative humidity can be used to predict adverse weather by means of cloud formation. Such data collections would be an improvement to current meteorology methods and an asset to meteorology and NASA. Upon recovery of the rocket, depending on the amount of damage, it can be rebuilt and reused. Even without knowing the total replacement cost of a weather balloon and radiosonde, our rocket will still be far less expensive to replace. Truly, only time will tell if the rocket is not only more accurate, but less expensive than the weather balloons.
Funding and Budget
The following budget is based off of the final cost of the SOAR rocket. The Surveyor is significantly smaller then SOAR, only 13 ft, and the payload is much less complicated. This means that the overall stock materials cost will be lower and the budget for the payload can be reduced significantly. A total of $8999 must be raised to pay for the rocket. The process of securing funding must begin immediately.
Contact Information
Mishaal Ashemimry – Team Leader 321-373-5919 (home) 305-613-1111 (cell)
Glen Guzik – Dev Contact 225-955-3388 (cell)
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