This is Rocket Science
L to R: Tony Contrada (advisor), Josh Ordway (EE), Suyog Benegalrao (AE), Sydney Lewis (AE), Michael Mullen (EE), Haley Allen (AE), Hsin-Hsiao (Jim) Ma (AE), Matt Vildzius (EE), Richard Zappulla (AE), Austin Pierce (EE), Frantz Bruny (EE)
The future of rocket science recently looked bright as 20 student-built rockets launched into the sky over Huntsville, Alabama as part of NASA’s University Student Launch Initiative (ULSI) and Student Launch Initiative (SLI) both sponsored by NASA and ATK Launch Systems. Georgia Tech was well represented by its Ramblin’ Rocket Club team who not only won the Web Design Award (for best online team presence) but who also finished third in the “Closer to Altitude” competition. The GT team rocket delivered a 97% accuracy of the one-mile target for the competition.
Team Challenges
Teams were challenged to design, build and fly a reusable rocket carrying a scientific payload to exactly one mile in altitude. Following the competition, NASA and ATK presented the initial awards at a banquet where more than 400 students and mentors were present. The final two ULSI awards, Rookie Team of the Year and Best Overall Team of the Year, will be presented in May once all teams have submitted their post-launch and science payload reports for review. The winning team will receive a cash prize of $5,000.
Benefits of being on the team
“Being a member of the Georgia Tech rocket club and having a chance to compete helps nurture a new generation interested in space,” said Hsin-Hsiao (Jim) Ma, an aerospace engineering undergraduate and project manager for the Georgia Tech entry in the competition. “This competition challenges our inventiveness while at the same time has us adhere to a rigorous set of criteria, much like operating in the real world.”
The work is hard, but very rewarding
NASA sponsors the competition to help inspire young people to pursue careers in fields critical to NASA’s mission: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This year’s rocket club team from Georgia Tech, nicknamed the Mile High Yellow Jackets, included students from aerospace engineering and electrical and computer engineering, who all share a love of rockets. “My interest actually started in Cub Scouts,” said Josh Ordway, president of the GT rocket club. “As an electrical engineering major, my responsibilities for the launch came in working with the sensors on the rocket. Every team member has a specific project or task and everyone on the team and in the club has a passion for rockets.” Getting to the competition takes work. “There is a lot of pre-launch and post-launch work,” said Ordway. “We must go through a design phase, flight readiness review, flight critical review, and post flight review. There are a number of paper deadlines that must be submitted which are judged by NASA in determining the winner of the competition,”
The Georgia Tech rocket measured 92 inches in length and 4 inches in diameter weighing in at only 15 pounds. In that small space, the rocket had to carry a payload for a required scientific experiment and fuel cylinders to boost the rocket to a one-mile altitude.
“I have always wanted to study rockets so coming to Tech and majoring in aerospace was a natural fit,” said Ma. “The competition was a great way to test concepts and put book learning into a real world application. Having the Georgia Tech rocket club is such a great way of putting what we learn into action. We have a chance to measure success not only in the classroom but outside in a real world arena.”
>>Bolder by Design.
