Balsa Rocket Project
The launch of our first rocket flew nicely when it launched and now we know for next time what to change about the rocket. During the time I have been working on this project I have started to become aware of what is needed to make these miniature vessels. Some factors that I have make a good balsa rocket or a rocket in general are that the rocket is as light as it can be, it is more top heavy, the motor is carefully constructed, and you have large fins, but there are other factors that are not directly related to the rocket itself such as the launch guides and even the weather itself. the things I want to do differently for the next rocket is that it needs to be lighter than before, the fins will be glued to the body of the rocket evenly so there is less of a chance it will spin off mid-air, and I would like to test out a different style for the fins that aren't as beefy as the previous ones.
The launch of our first rocket flew nicely when it launched and now we know for next time what to change about the rocket. During the time I have been working on this project I have started to become aware of what is needed to make these miniature vessels. Some factors that I have make a good balsa rocket or a rocket in general are that the rocket is as light as it can be, it is more top heavy, the motor is carefully constructed, and you have large fins, but there are other factors that are not directly related to the rocket itself such as the launch guides and even the weather itself. the things I want to do differently for the next rocket is that it needs to be lighter than before, the fins will be glued to the body of the rocket evenly so there is less of a chance it will spin off mid-air, and I would like to test out a different style for the fins that aren't as beefy as the previous ones.
Balsa Rocket Videos
https://youtu.be/Typ47qec2l4
https://youtu.be/kW09UVr5ex0
https://youtu.be/d-K8nMC77Ow
https://youtu.be/GHMV70MvAnU
Balsa Rocket 2 Videos
https://youtu.be/fPMqacaMqnY
Rest of the videos
Final Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f45j2kb2Ds
Scratch Rocket
For this rocket me and my group decided to create a rocket that would be very stable, and aerodynamic when it launches so we added extra fins to the top, we also wanted to add a transparent plastic tube with the camera in it surrounded with pillow stuffing towards the center of the rocket to get a more fixed and cinematic shot of the landscape when it is in the air.
https://youtu.be/Typ47qec2l4
https://youtu.be/kW09UVr5ex0
https://youtu.be/d-K8nMC77Ow
https://youtu.be/GHMV70MvAnU
Balsa Rocket 2 Videos
https://youtu.be/fPMqacaMqnY
Rest of the videos
Final Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f45j2kb2Ds
Scratch Rocket
For this rocket me and my group decided to create a rocket that would be very stable, and aerodynamic when it launches so we added extra fins to the top, we also wanted to add a transparent plastic tube with the camera in it surrounded with pillow stuffing towards the center of the rocket to get a more fixed and cinematic shot of the landscape when it is in the air.
The surface area of this rocket is 144.8 square inches.
Schedule:
9/23/16 Get the plan approved
9/28/16 Complete building the rocket
9/29/16 Motor prototype testing and documentation
9/30/16 Final motor construction
10/3/16 Rocket launch
Material List:
Schedule:
9/23/16 Get the plan approved
9/28/16 Complete building the rocket
9/29/16 Motor prototype testing and documentation
9/30/16 Final motor construction
10/3/16 Rocket launch
Material List:
- Balsa Wood Sheets
- Balsa Wood Blocks
- Kraft Paper
- Clear Plastic Tubing (1.25″ Inner Diameter)
- 1″ PVC Pipe
- Camera
- Tissue Paper
- Borax
- String
- Tape
- Plastic Bag
- Fuse
- Black Powder
- Ejection Charge Casing
- Pillow Stuffing
- Wood Glue
- Superglue
- Sandpaper
This is our rocket as of 9/28/2016.
This is our short storyboard for the film we are making.
My group's finished rocket.
In this short film, a stick figure on a rocket that is being propelled upward is being told over a communications device that he needs to jump because the ejection charge of the rocket is about to explode and if he doesn’t jump now he will be blown to smithereens. The stick figure has second thoughts and he is reluctant to jump due to seeing how high he is from the ground, so he becomes frustrated with himself. He releases his anger by kicking the rocket. At the last second he decides to jump right when the ejection charge goes off and he is practically flung out of the rocket by the force of the explosion, plummeting towards the earth. The last scene is a memorial for him. Each of our group members contributed in their own way to this short film, I created the animation, Ron collected the footage from the launch but we used someone else's launch footage because the footage from our rocket was not that great, and Andrew edited the film. We chose this plot for our film because we thought it would be very unique to have something that deviates from the realm of nonfiction and has both real life footage from the launch of the rocket and combines that with animation. This film is significant to me because I feel that this is one of my best animations and I think that's because I am using a new technique where I utilize the motion tween for a majority of the objects to create a smooth animation with easy, simple movement. I would like to think of the launch of the rocket as a success even though it spiraled out of control, didn’t go very high, and hit the ground right when the ejection charge went off, I would still like to think of it as a success because it was hilarious to see it explode right when it landed. Somethings I think would have made the rocket launch better would be to make the rocket more top heavy and to remove the fins at the top to make it so then it has more control. I feel I made a fair contribution to the success of this project.
This is the full video edited together:
Capstone Project: High Altitude balloons
Project Proposal
For this project our group plans to send a donut and mini marshmallow into the upper atmosphere in hopes of learning what would happen to both of these objects under the conditions of being at this altitude. Our groups hypothesis is the the marshmallows will expand, due to the air inside of the marshmallows trying to escape. After all of the air escapes it will get smaller because no more air will be in the marshmallow. We predict that the food will freeze. We also predict that the donut will act similar, by expanding and also freeze. This will all happen as the balloon gets higher. What makes both of these items similar is that they both have air in them like the weather balloon we will use to send them up, as a weather balloon ascends the balloon will expand and expand until it bursts due to the lower air pressure. The experiments will be glued to a long rectangular piece of plexiglass connected to a styrofoam box that will be suspended by a weather balloon.
Team Name: H.A.R.B (High Altitude Radical Balloon)
Launch Site And Time: La Jolla Gliderport at sunrise
Planetary Citizen Essay Introductory Paragraph:
If we were to fly outside of earth and see it from that perspective, you would find that we are in fact on a ship flying through space that is orbiting the sun, with resources limited resources that we must manage in order to sustain life on this spaceship earth. I believe, my role on spaceship earth is to be a maker, to create things whether it be a hat, a machine, a scarf, or even a memory. I live up to this claim in several ways, I consider myself to be a fast learner or maybe it's just the people teaching me are great at teaching, I usually have at least one project at home that I can work on, and I usually try to have a creative and open mind when I can. For these reasons, which I will elaborate on below, I can say with confidence that I believe this is my role on spaceship earth.
This is the package that our group made:
For this project our group plans to send a donut and mini marshmallow into the upper atmosphere in hopes of learning what would happen to both of these objects under the conditions of being at this altitude. Our groups hypothesis is the the marshmallows will expand, due to the air inside of the marshmallows trying to escape. After all of the air escapes it will get smaller because no more air will be in the marshmallow. We predict that the food will freeze. We also predict that the donut will act similar, by expanding and also freeze. This will all happen as the balloon gets higher. What makes both of these items similar is that they both have air in them like the weather balloon we will use to send them up, as a weather balloon ascends the balloon will expand and expand until it bursts due to the lower air pressure. The experiments will be glued to a long rectangular piece of plexiglass connected to a styrofoam box that will be suspended by a weather balloon.
Team Name: H.A.R.B (High Altitude Radical Balloon)
Launch Site And Time: La Jolla Gliderport at sunrise
Planetary Citizen Essay Introductory Paragraph:
If we were to fly outside of earth and see it from that perspective, you would find that we are in fact on a ship flying through space that is orbiting the sun, with resources limited resources that we must manage in order to sustain life on this spaceship earth. I believe, my role on spaceship earth is to be a maker, to create things whether it be a hat, a machine, a scarf, or even a memory. I live up to this claim in several ways, I consider myself to be a fast learner or maybe it's just the people teaching me are great at teaching, I usually have at least one project at home that I can work on, and I usually try to have a creative and open mind when I can. For these reasons, which I will elaborate on below, I can say with confidence that I believe this is my role on spaceship earth.
This is the package that our group made:
The Suspension System
For our suspension system we will be having two pieces of rope holding the package together when it is being suspended in the air by the balloon. The rope is then connected to a swivel to help stop the package from turning in the air and get clearer shots from the package. After that the swivel is then connected to another rope which will then be connected to the balloon.
Shake Testing
Our group as of 11/9/2016 tested the package to see if our package would stay in one piece when being shaken to an extreme rate on a shaker table, and it went exceptionally, it was able to survive past the rate it is expected to be shaken when it is being sent up into the air. Unfortunately, our group was not able to observe the other tests such as the freezer test and the suspension test but, we were informed that every test was successful. As of 11/15/2016 we also predicted that it would land somewhere near Palomar Mountain if we launch it from the Torrey Pines Gliderport.
Launch and Retrieval
On November 15, 2016 we launched our group's high altitude balloon and in my opinion the launch was a complete success even though the package spun quite a bit while it was ascending and it also collided a few times with another high altitude balloon that another group launched at the same time as ours. The process for getting the high altitude balloon ready for flight was that we first inserted the spot tracker and the gopro camera into the necessary compartments of the payload. We then super glued the marshmallows and the donut to the plexiglass platform of the payload. After that we started filling the balloon with helium and inserting handwarmers. Once the balloon was completely filled with helium we attached it to the payload and waited for the other group to prepare their high altitude balloon. Once the other group was ready, we turned the gopro camera on and let go of the high altitude balloon go. The high altitude balloon went almost exactly on the predicted path but it deviated from the predicted path towards the end of the flight and landed in a place that (In my opinion) was a reasonably difficult place to hike to and retrieve the data from the high altitude balloon which I believe was about one mile off the road and up a mountain. On the retrival I went with four other people, two of which were in the other group that launched. We left to retrieve the footage at 10:30 AM and came back to school at 4:30 PM.
Semester Reflection
For our suspension system we will be having two pieces of rope holding the package together when it is being suspended in the air by the balloon. The rope is then connected to a swivel to help stop the package from turning in the air and get clearer shots from the package. After that the swivel is then connected to another rope which will then be connected to the balloon.
Shake Testing
Our group as of 11/9/2016 tested the package to see if our package would stay in one piece when being shaken to an extreme rate on a shaker table, and it went exceptionally, it was able to survive past the rate it is expected to be shaken when it is being sent up into the air. Unfortunately, our group was not able to observe the other tests such as the freezer test and the suspension test but, we were informed that every test was successful. As of 11/15/2016 we also predicted that it would land somewhere near Palomar Mountain if we launch it from the Torrey Pines Gliderport.
Launch and Retrieval
On November 15, 2016 we launched our group's high altitude balloon and in my opinion the launch was a complete success even though the package spun quite a bit while it was ascending and it also collided a few times with another high altitude balloon that another group launched at the same time as ours. The process for getting the high altitude balloon ready for flight was that we first inserted the spot tracker and the gopro camera into the necessary compartments of the payload. We then super glued the marshmallows and the donut to the plexiglass platform of the payload. After that we started filling the balloon with helium and inserting handwarmers. Once the balloon was completely filled with helium we attached it to the payload and waited for the other group to prepare their high altitude balloon. Once the other group was ready, we turned the gopro camera on and let go of the high altitude balloon go. The high altitude balloon went almost exactly on the predicted path but it deviated from the predicted path towards the end of the flight and landed in a place that (In my opinion) was a reasonably difficult place to hike to and retrieve the data from the high altitude balloon which I believe was about one mile off the road and up a mountain. On the retrival I went with four other people, two of which were in the other group that launched. We left to retrieve the footage at 10:30 AM and came back to school at 4:30 PM.
Semester Reflection
- Did your semester go the way you had imagined? Why or why not?
- List and elaborate on at least three areas of personal growth.
- One area of personal growth is that I have grown more confident as a maker by working on more ambitious projects such as a LED mask
- Another area of personal growth is that I have improved my skills as a writer through assignments such as the blog posts and several different essays and papers.
- My third area of personal growth is that I have improved my skills at managing time when working on several assignments through the increased workload that was given this semester
- List and elaborate on at least three areas of academic growth.
- One area of academic growth is that I have improved my ability to work with a group of people in a project, an example of this was during the high altitude balloon project when, as a group we launched a high altitude balloon with a payload that we created
- Another area of academic growth is that I have grown accustomed to balancing the workload I received over this past semester
- My third area of academic growth is that I have improved my note-taking skills through individual classes in chemistry
- Did you accomplish or move closer to accomplishing any goals you had at the beginning of the semester? If so, explain how, if not, explain why.
- State and describe two goals for next semester. One in an area of personal growth and one in an area of academic growth. Additionally, very specifically explain how you plan to accomplish them.
- Did you engage in our project and the work that surrounded it to the best of your ability? If yes, cite and explain examples, if no, reflect on why that was, and what could have been done differently to get you to engage.
- If you could design and execute your own semester, your own project, what would it be and why? What would you hope others would learn from it?
- What feedback do you have for us, Andrew and Adam? How could the project have been better? How could our individual classes have been better?