USU Soars in Rocket Competition

A group of Utah State University mechanical and aerospace engineering students earned top honors at the first university launch competition against the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

The competition was held Jan. 5 at an old army launch site near Green River, Utah. Chimaera, the USU rocket, was in the air for approximately 15-20 seconds and reached a height of 5,700 feet, said USU adjunct professor Paul Mueller, who oversaw the project.

 

The purpose of the project is to give engineering students hands-on experience in designing, building and launching a rocket, Mueller said. It was constructed entirely by the mechanical engineering senior design class, over several years (and classes).

 

The UAH rocket was 8.5 feet long and boosted by a commercially available engine, but USU built its own.

 

“The motor was built a couple of years ago and extensively ground tested here on campus,” said Mueller. “The rocket was built over the last year and a half.”

 

The USU rocket weighed about 450 pounds and was about 25 feet long, reaching a maximum speed of approximately .08 times the speed of sound.

 

“The rocket produced about 3,000 pounds of force for four to five seconds,” said David Omer, USU mechanical engineering graduate student.

 

Both of the rockets in the competition had recovery systems failure and hit the ground hard. The USU recovery system malfunctioned and the rocket was going at such a fast speed that the deployment of the chutes caused the destruction of the rocket, Mueller said. The UAH’s recovery system also failed, and at the conclusion of the event, the exact height the rockets reached was undetermined.

 

USU won the competition based on its levels of professionalism and student involvement, Omer said.

 

“Their burn time was proper, and man, they really took off. They both flew beautifully,” said judge and guest of honor R. Gil Moore when recounting the launching.

 

Moore, a renowned space scientist and a physics professor who taught at USU and the Air Force Academy, helped start the Unity IV rocket project at USU with Brigham Young University, University of Utah and Weber State University in the early 1990s, Mueller said. He was chosen because he has been instrumental in many projects that involve students of all ages in space, science and technical endeavors.

 

The contest was organized by a Utah nonprofit group Mueller helped launch in 2003, the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association. It was also sponsored by the USU Space Dynamics Laboratory and USU.

 

Mueller said the goal is to have regular annual competitions at the end of each school year and to bring in more teams each year. He said there are also plans to involve the public and to provide outreach to elementary through high school students, showing them the excitement of rockets and space. Mueller also hopes the outreach will encourage students to study science and math and to pursue technical careers.

 

For more information, contact Mueller at (435) 797-3536 or paul.mueller@usu.edu.