Rocket ReflectionOverall, I think this project went well. The exhibition went by fast because the launch team was efficient and everyone was prepared. Once the sun went down it cooled down a lot, but not enough to freeze the water or break the rockets when we loaded them. A lot of people showed up to watch and most rockets did well and actually launched. The exhibition went well and I am satisfied with our results.
Our rocket went high, but the nose cone didn’t fall off. The parachute didn’t deploy because our nose cone wasn’t heavy enough. Our rocket did really well when we practiced, but there also wasn’t any wind. Because there was wind at the exhibition, our rocket didn’t go straight up. If it had the cone would have popped off and deployed our parachute. We were depending on there being no wind for a straight flight. One technique that worked for my sister when she made her rocket was to put clay in the nose cone. We had the same type of nose cone design, and I feel like if we added weight to the nose cone it would have popped off and deployed the parachute even if our rocket didn’t fly straight up. We used PVC pipe and I feel like that was a good design because it added length to our rocket. The on thing that was not so good about the PVC pipe is that it was really heavy. It added height but if it were lighter then it would have gone even higher. I feel like this project has been a success. Even though it is a backwards project, I still have learned more about aerodynamics and weight. Every year this project has improved and as a result of this we have some of the best rockets seen at animas in the past years. I really enjoyed this project and look forward to seeing it done next year. |