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What does it mean?

parachute – a device, commonly a large sheet of cloth, that increases the effects of drag on a falling object so as to allow it to safely descend.

In human speak please!

Parachutes are one of the best ways to protect both a rocket when it lands and the people below. Of course, the best way to protect the people below is to know the current wind velocities as well as having a clearly marked flight range. Still, adding a parachute to a rocket is an additional safety measure that also helps to protect the rocket from a high-speed impact with the ground upon landing.

Parachutes also serve an additional purpose in rocketry as the total duration of a rocket’s flight is quite short. Adding a parachute-controlled descent allows greater airtime in which on-board payloads can gather data.

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Draco High Power Rocket

Thor High Power Rocket

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What does it mean?

Geiger-counter – a particle detector that measures the rate at which ionizing radiation passes through an inert gas-filled tube called a Geiger-Müller tube.

aerosol detector – a scientific instrument that detects the number and/or type of micro-particles such as dust particles and gases.

In human speak please!

G’swigt is excited to speak about the other aspect of rocketry, especially the payload. The rocket that G’swigt is discussing is an example of a high-power rocket. These rockets are typically launched to heights of thousands of meters, and have ballistic trajectories – that is, they go up under power, and then come back down to the ground following a path determined by gravitational forces (and perhaps wind). Payloads on high-power rockets can make scientific observations that last for tens of minutes (the time it takes for the payload to descend back to the ground).

Including payload instruments such as Geiger-counters help us learn about how cosmic rays and radiation are affected by our atmosphere. Aerosol detectors in payloads enable us to track such things as pollutants, like dust, ash, and CO2 at varying heights in the atmosphere.

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Aerosols: Airborne particles in Earth’s atmosphere.

User antiprotons’ review of Geiger counters: “Three Geiger Counters Compared”

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What does it mean?

thrust – a force caused by the expulsion of mass; the force is directed in the opposite direction that the mass is expelled. Applying thrust to an object causes it to accelerate. Like any force, thrust has units of newtons (N).

specific impulse – the efficiency of a motor determined by the force per mass over a given time. Specific impulse has units of newton seconds divided by kilograms (N s / kg).

stage – a section of a rocket that has its own engine(s) and propellant(s). Multi-stage rockets are designed to burn their stages in succession in order to place the rocket payload higher than could be down with only a single stage.

multistage rocket – a rocket with multiple stages. After one stage finishes burning it is jettisoned and the next stage begins.

altitude – height above either sea level or ground level.

In human speak please!

While G’swigt builds his own rocket motors where he determines their thrust and impulse, how can you determine these attributes on model rockets that you can purchase at hobby stores?

Model rocket motor labels contain information about their thrust and specific impulse in the form of an alphanumeric code. The first letter indicates the total impulse range, where total impulse is the average thrust divided by the total firing time of the motor. Total impulse divided by the mass of the motor times the force of gravity equals the specific impulse of the motor.

The number after the letter is the motor’s thrust in Newtons. The general rule for model rockets is that the motor’s average thrust divided by 22.25 Newtons is the maximum weight limit in pounds for the rocket (including the fuselage, nose cone, etc.).

Multistage rockets are important and powerful tools as they allow a rocket to jettison mass (in the form of motor casing, fuselage, etc.) before ignition of the next stage. Each additional stage has less mass to propel against the force of gravity.

Alkina is concerned because if the G’swigt’s rockets do not have a high enough thrust then they won’t be able to launch RIA to an sufficient altitude above the planet’s atmosphere.

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NASA education site: rocket propulsion

Youtube Video: 2-Stage Model Rocket launch

Youtube Video: Atlas-V rocket (multistage) launch

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What does it mean?

fins – fins are wing-like projections. They help to stabilize the rocket’s direction of flight.

stabilize – to keep constant or steady.

nose cone – the forward top-most area of a rocket which sometimes houses avionics and/or payloads.

payload – the scientific or military devices that use the rocket to travel to the target.

motor – the chemical fuel and containment apparatus used to propel a rocket.

In human speak please!

Doesn’t the payload belong in the nose cone? For many large, space-faring, rockets the payload is placed in the nose cone in along with the avionics. For the Saturn V rocket, which was used for the Apollo mission to the Moon, the payload (including the astronauts) was the forward most part of the rocket including its nose cone.

For smaller rockets this is not the case. Because these rockets have smaller-mass payloads, designers have more freedom to choose where in the fuselage to place their experiments.

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Level 1 Rocket Build – Apogee Rockets level 1 model rocket build.

Level 2 Rocket Build – Erin Card builds a level 2 model rocket.

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What does it mean?

3-D printer – a machine that is able to fabricate objects by depositing layer after successive layer of plastic or metal to build a three dimensional shape.

avionics bay – the section of a rocket that holds equipment and electronics that are used for guidance or making various measurements.

CubeSats – these are satellites that fit within a 10 centimeter cube. They can be manufactured quickly and cheaply and outfitted with many kinds of experiments. They are limited to masses no more than 1.33 kg.

In human speak please!

CubeSats were first developed by Dr. Bob Twiggs of Standford University and Dr. Jordi Puig-Suari of CalPoly, San Luis Obispo in 1999. They were designed to help create a low-cost way for universities and colleges to engage in space exploration and research. The idea is simple; set a standardized build-design for these 10 cm, light-weight, satellites which can be fitted with sensors, detectors, power supplies, and data communication devices (such as radio telemetry).

If more room is needed for an experiment the CubeSats can be stacked together. If two are stacked together it is a 2U CubeSat, the “U” stands for unit. So a 3U CubeSat has three 10 cm cubes stacked on top of each other. Because of launch constraints and other factors, CubeSats are always stacked in a straight, vertical, configuration.

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3D Printer – London 3D printer show

Student’s CubeSat Presentation – Bryan Fewell CubeSat experiment.

Building a CubeSat – Solar Array CubeSat from University of Hawaii.