NASA STUDENT LAUNCH
Intro
The NASA Student Launch is a engineering Challenge issued by NASA every year to colleges nation wide. The goal this year (2023-2024) is to build a rocket that can bring a payload to 4000 - 6000 feet and deploy the payload 400-800 feet from the ground. The challenge is that the payload is unable to utilize any form of parachute or streamer, while still landing with human survivable metrics.
The landing system of the payload will consist of the nose cone, an aluminum tip, a spring, and two central rods. The spring will be used to take any major axial forces while also spreading out the impact to cushion it. The two central rods will be capable of telescoping to allow the structure to change length and to allow the spring to take the force, all while maintaining the strength of the structure.
Final Presentation
Engineering report
Presentation Video
Working Device Presentation
Full payload
Landing system Sketch
Results
Connector Strength Test Results
The results of the connector strength test show that the connector plates of both designs were capable of sustaining at least 355lbf before buckling. this means that they passed the required force of 300lbf. in addition to this the new designs were slightly stronger than the old ones. This is important because the new designs were also lighter by 10g than the old designs, so this helps save weight on the payload.
Spring Test Results
The results of the spring test shows how much force is required to completely compress or extend the spring. The data Shows that for compression the max force is 122N or ~27lbf and for extension its 69N or ~15.5lbf. This data can help estimate how much the assembly needs to be adjusted to help prevent problems like the spring over extending from ejection. In addition this data can be used to find the spring constant, which was found to be 3.16lbf/in.
Rod Deflection Test Results
The results of the Deflection Test show that the Rod has an average modulus of elasticity of 25.06 Gpa. using this number the Pcr for critical buckling force was calculated to be 4.89 KN or 1100 lbf, which greatly surpasses the 300 lbf requirement.