Rocketry Planet

GIDDINGS, Texas USA — Troop 143's NASA Student Launch Initiative team is now in the final phase of their 7 month contract. After submitting a proposal in October, the scouts have completed 3 separate documents, including preliminary and critical design documents for a high power rocket to deliver a scientific payload one mile (5,280 ft) high.

The "Totally Tubular" rocket takes flight.

Team members and author Homer Hickam, author of the book turned movie "October Sky", which has become a touch-point of inspiration for many young rocketeers.

The remnants of a "duplicate error."

"Totally Tubular" became a lawn dart.

The "Totally Tubular" rocket team pose with the ubiquitous Saturn V.

The scouts have also participated in on-line video conferences with NASA engineers and safety personnel. The team members include Cody Alexander, Project Manager; Taylor Blakney, Recovery; Corbin Dillow, Payload & Electronics; Skyler Newman, Airframe Construction; and Preston Pruitt, Project & Flight Safety.

After trudging through the first four months of paperwork and 1/2 scale testing, the materials for the 6-foot-long, 6-inch-diameter tube-finned rocket were ordered. The rocket was constructed of fiberglass tubing and epoxy with a payload bay of plywood and aluminum. The electronics being flown are a combination of barometric and accelerometer based altimeters which will record velocity, acceleration and altitude of the rocket. They also control flight recovery events (deployment of parachutes). Because of the extreme altitude, high power rockets such as this contain two parachutes. A small (drogue) chute is deployed at the peak altitude (apogee) and a larger, main parachute is deployed at a much lower altitude in order to make recovery of the rocket easier.

Once the vehicle was complete, a test launch was scheduled. The motor selected was approximately half the power of the motor to be used in the final launch. Arrangements were made to launch at a field in Hutto under the supervision of the team's high-power rocketry mentor and representative of the Austin Area Rocketry Group (AARG), Mr. Rick Van Voorhis of Pflugerville.

Preparation for the flight took about an hour, as the team used the opportunity to revise a final flight checklist for the trip to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. After a beautiful launch, the team stared in disbelief as the rocket returned to earth at over 200 miles per hour. Neither of the two parachutes deployed, and the forward 3-1/2 feet of the rocket was instantly compressed into a space less than one foot in length. The resulting crater was about 2 feet deep and 2 feet wide. Post flight analysis revealed a "redundant error". Although there were two deployment systems in place, a duplicate error in each system rendered them inoperable. The trip to Marshall was only two weeks away, and a rebuild was looking questionable.

Although they would still be allowed to attend, the team members were unwilling to go without a rocket. At a replacement cost of about $1,000, parts and electronics were ordered and expedited. What had previously taken weeks to complete was duplicated in a matter of days. Experience from the first build and raw determination took over as the "Totally Tubular" rocket was rebuilt and shipped to Alabama. Essential power tools and hand tools were also shipped as hotel rooms would be converted to workshops for the finishing touches.

During the USLI/SLI launch week, NASA holds a "rocket fair" consisting of participating teams in both the Student Launch Initiative (SLI) and the University Student Launch Initiative (USLI) programs. A total of 14 SLI teams (middle school and high school students) and 19 USLI teams participated in the fair and launch.

On launch day, all 33 teams and several hundred spectators assembled at Bragg Farms, outside of Huntsville. Although short of the one-mile target altitude, the rocket from Giddings made it to 4,250 feet. The drogue chute deployed as planned, but the main failed. At only 50 mph, the rocket survived with slight internal damage. The scientific data needed to complete the project, however, was intact, as were all the internal electronics. The flight, overall, was a success.

The SLI program is not a contest, but rather is a hands-on learning experience involving the design and construction of a reusable rocket with a scientific payload. At the SLI level, only two awards are given. The Boy Scout team was awarded the "Team Spirit Award" which "Celebrates extraordinary enthusiasm and gracious professionalism through teamwork on launch day as judged by their peers." 

The final bit of good news is that participants are invited to make proposals for two years. Despite the hundreds of hours of hard work, and a visit to the "school of hard knocks", every member of this team is ready to do it again.

Visit Troop 143's Website

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