SFS News: Cambridge University students aiming to launch a r

From the edge of space a tiny camera captures the dramatic curvature of the Earth, during a test flight that is one small step for Cambridge University students aiming to launch a rocket into space for under £1,000.



Read more here
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/cuspaceflight/

Find photos here
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/cuspaceflight/ ... 6selected/

A Recent N-Prize comment from “Ed Mooreâ€

How difficult is rocketry in the UK regarding legislation?

Hi Klaus,

As a hobby, model rocketry is thriving in the UK. We're right next to the East Anglian Rocketry society launch site which is a great place to test stuff. Regulation-wise, it's broadly the same as in the states, except the population densities are higher pretty much wherever you go (we have no black rock desert) so one has to be correspondingly careful in picking the right conditions to fly. For our rockoon, it is unlikely we will be launching from the UK.

Ed

Ed
Have you guys thought about a place to launch for your N-Prize attempt? I could imagine there would be some fun trying to take a rocket across to the US. I know that starchaser have had to look to the US for high altitude tests.

Rob

Hi Rob - as near to the equator as we can get! For such a minimal orbital attempt, every m/s counts. Though Paul Dear said somewhere with good beer should also be a consideration. I think he might have a point. First of all we'll concentrate on launching the sub-orbital Martlet rocket. Cambridge Precision (in half the nova 6 pictures) have very kindly agreed to do some machining on the moulds for it, and they're coming on very well. I'm really very excited about it all at the minute!

I think I should leave Germany.. Here no model rocketry (or similar things) is allowed that exceeds 30 meters altitude. So even high-performance water rockets are forbidden not even talking about other means of propulsion.

There are only some very few events each year with special authorization where one can see bigger rockets here. Even flying at such events is not easy as you need a official licence and education in blasting techniques here in Germany. That's out of the land of von Braun, Oberth and others...

Von Braun would be pretty pissed off if he could see the state of your rocketry by the sounds of it Klaus! Blimey! (I have a great rocket vid ill forward you later, got bored this weekend and sent my own one up )

Guys, i was wandering, how do you plan on running a long project like the N-prize when i am assuming you will be losing people every year?

Is it not a problem that you students only get a few years maximum? Or is there a senior project leader overseeing nit all so that knowledge is passed on from year to year?

Hi Rob,

Good question. I graduate 2010, Fergus 2011, most of the other guys 2009. The N-prize has to be completed by 2011 anyway, as the rules currently stand. So there may be a tiny element of Cambridge University (+alumni) Spaceflight having to go on, but the society itself will continue with new blood.

Have you given any thought as to how you will transport your rocket to launch altitude under the balloon?

Will you simply attach the balloon directly to the rocket, or have you considered using a "launch tube"-type of container for the rocket; attaching the balloon to the tube instead of directly to the rocket?

Both methods have advantages and disadvantages, as we discovered back in the days of the C.A.T.S. Prize competetion.

has anyone got any videos or images of launch tubes? i imagine they are realitively simple right?

Check the JP Aerospace website, not the blog; they have pics and a few videos with images of the launch tubes they've used. Unfortunately, we never thought to take many "work-in-progress" type photos of the launch tubes we built.

The launch tube needn't be terribly complex in itself. But consider, the launch tube, for an un-guided rocket (as opposed to a guided, steerable, missle) serves to "set" the intitial course of the launch. The tubes I built included an internal structure to guide the fins of the rocket through the initial phase of the launch and prevent the rocket from "rifling" in the tube.

The tube incorporated an exhaust system that allowed us to seal the tube against the cold at high altitude. The system would also vent the rocket's plume on launch to prevent over-pressurization of the tube and exhaust heat damage to the rocket.

We have a design, but we're still open to new ideas and advice.
Nova 5 included a small rocket, though the rocket failed to ignite on the day.

I was considering a rectangular helium filled sac, "sandwiched" between two peices of metalized Mylar film. This "Thermal Blanket" would then be wrapped around a light-weight tubular frame assembled from carbon fiber tube sections.

The rocket would be mounted within the framework.

The blanket would provide thermal insulation for the rocket. If the calculations are done correctly, you might even be able to incorporate enough helium gas within the "air sac" of the blanket to, at least partially, offset the weight of the launch tube.

guys, when does your new semester start? will we see changes to the team? or any changes to your updates, your work etc?>

Very nice photo! wow I just love that! Have you had any trouble finding your Near Space packages? Really nice photo thats the best one i've seen so far! I want one!