Objective One

• Oversee the life cycle of a sounding rocket through its design, construction, launch, and deployment of payload

   NOTE this section is now split into four subsections:         (A) Rocket Overview and Original Options (this page)   (B) Wind Tunnel Experimentation: Fin Canting for Spin                   (C) Past Booster Option: SuperLoki                 (D) Our Customized P-class Motor

(A) Rocket Overview and Original Options

     Once the payload is constructed and ready, it needs transportation into the Stratosphere. This is where JAMSTAR’s rocket comes in.  Sounding rockets are used by NASA and other organizations for scientific research, and are generally slim, sleek, and very fast.  The most efficient method of sending a small payload to high altitudes is the boosted dart design; NASA and USAF used this design for years in their SuperLoki boosters. A boosted dart consists of two main parts, the motor and the dart.  During launch, the motor provides massive thrust for a very short period of time, separates from the dart, and the dart’s momentum allows it to cruise to its target altitude. In effect, this process is the same as throwing a baseball, in which the motor is your arm, and the dart is the ball. 

     Boosted-dart sounding rockets use solid-fuel motors.  Ours will use a customized P-class motor.  (Class ratings specify the motor’s total impulse, which rapidly increases as the class letter gets later in the alphabet -- each letter is double the total impusle of its predecessor) Our development request for such a motor was reviewed by a number of major rocket motor companies. The winning combination is with amateurs from Ozark Aerospace and Loki Research, who have built us a 77,000 N-s P-class motor! The motor uses a composite fuel, ammonium perchlorate and aluminum.

     Unfortunately, typical hobby rocketry insurance does not cover an engine of this size.  Since this is an academically approved activity, however, Florida Tech’s insurance has officially approved the project. All Florida Tech students and faculty, as well as a short list of our non-Florida Tech advisors, are covered for launch day.

     The JAMSTAR team designed and built the dart under guidance and close assistance from the NorthEast Florida Association of Rocketry.   The team also built the booster fin can and booster-dart transition.  See Construction for details and pictures!

                                     Continue to                                         (B) Wind Tunnel Experimentation: Fin Canting for Spin                 (C) Past Booster Option: SuperLoki                   (D) Our Customized P-class Motor