NASA USLI Rocket Series
AerospaceNU
I was a part of AerospaceNU's NASA USLI competition team in 2020. This challenge required students to design and build a rover, a rocket capable of deploying the rover payload for its mission, and a subscale version of the rocket to verify flight profile.
I worked on the launch vehicle team, focusing on electronics bays (E-Bays). I was also involved in building the airframes and parachute rigging.
Subscale Rocket
I designed the structure of the E-Bay, including 3D printed closure bulkheads, mounting sleds, and electronic component layout. I laser cut the sleds, then wired and assembled the Molex connector-based arming switches and the E-Bay. I integrated it into the rocket, making sure it could interface with the parachutes and other necessary subsystems.
Upon launch, the vehicle’s ascent was solid, but the main parachute deployed early, causing it to drift into a tree. Though it was retrieved by professionals several weeks later, the reason for early deployment could not be determined from the data we obtained. Moving forward, data logging on custom electronics and better wiring practices (twisted pairs, improved routing) were implemented.
Because of the partial recovery failure, this flight did not fulfill the competition’s subscale flight requirement. With the subscale rocket unavailable for reflight and the deadline fast approaching, we needed to pivot quickly.
Microscale Rocket
As we lacked the time and resources to fully rebuild the subscale rocket, we built an even smaller version of the rocket as proof-of-concept for construction techniques and recovery. Microscale flew 1 week after the subscale launch.
I designed a new E-Bay with a 3D printed body to hold the altimeter and battery. After the body was printed, I laser cut the remaining components, then assembled and wired the electronics bay and integrated the system into the rocket.
The flight was successful, with full flight data recorded, allowing the project to progress to the fullscale rocket.
Fullscale Rocket
The fullscale E-Bay was structured like the subscale E-Bay, with 3D printed bulkheads and wooden sleds for mounting. In this case, however, each bulkhead was integrated into a single piece with our custom deployment systems: parachutes at one end, rover at the other. I led a small group in assembling this E-Bay.
The fullscale launch was a complete success, with all deployments occurring as intended.
Though the final competition was cancelled, I’m glad I was a part of the project. These E-Bays were the first system I took primary responsibility for, and I learned a lot about E-Bays, general design practices, and project integration in the process. Plus, there’s nothing quite like launching a rocket on the ice of a frozen lake!