the project and my journey -

This project has many goals - the main being to learn the iterative process and develop my design skills. I have experimented much over the years with model rocketry, however have never made it off the ground - both literally and metaphorically...

My fixation began - as many rocketry enthusiast's did - with a video game called "Kerbal Space Program". I vividly remember the excitement of getting my first computer when I was 7 - after much begging of my parents - with specs just adequate to play. I was hooked. Kerbal Space program, despite its immature premise and juvenile protagonists, provided a firm grounding in basic orbital mechanics. The fun and exciting gameplay alone was enough to satisfy a 7 year old, but what really captivated me was the real world implications of space exploration and the intricate design philosophies behind building such incredible works of engineering. By the time I was in year 5, I had developed a real passion for aerospace and astrophysics; it was in this year that I delivered a presentation on orbital mechanics to my class - with aid of screenshots captured from the game - however, this certainly did not catapult me to primary school stardom as I had so hoped.

Early motor using cardboard tubing coated in tinfoil

The beginning of my rocketry

Fast forward to year six, and I was watching in awe as the first Falcon Heavy launched, sending Musk's tesla soaring into heliocentric orbit, before self landing the side boosters in awesome unity. This epic demonstration instilled an awe within me which I then carried onto secondary school where I attempted to build my own rocket for a science project in year 8. Ultimately, this failed in epic fashion many a time, with me never leaving the ground. Over the course of the next few years I began to refine my scientific process: conducting tests with different propellant formulas, experimenting with different materials and building different motor designs. Nothing however seemed to work - I just could not match the impressive thrust generated by the motors which I would watch countless videos of online. I ventured down many motor design avenues: pure aluminium, cardboard, paper, PVC piping, where all materials that I had experimented with. Further, a steel spirit measure proved invaluable in my propellant tests over the years. I've experimented with various different propellant formulas and methods of production, alongside producing a great variety of nozzles. Unfortunately, many early videos of these "launches" have been lost, and I am left only with a few short clips of prepubescent me laughing at fire...

Over the next few years, I continued with my experimentation - drawing from many different design philosophies. In the test on the right, I tried to use the design philosophy of a fire work - however I still had not mastered the art of "thrust" hence the lack of lift. During this early era this was likely due to the lack of a distinct nozzle; here I had simply drilled a hole through the propellant which I had melted together on an electric stove in the garden. The liquid propellant was then poured into a length of PVC piping before being left to set. I then used a small drill bit to bore out a centre hole in an effort to increase burning surface area. This however - as I would find out - was not soley effective enough to generate lift.

Where I am now

Since the beginning of year 12, my passion for rocketry has been rekindled - in part due to the incredible success's once more of Space X's starship, which I have now begun following incredibly closely. This - coupled with videos from channels such as "Real engineering", "The Every Day Astronaut" and most recently "BPS Space" on the fascinating engineering of real aerospace manufacturing - alongside model rocketry - has inspired me to uptake the project once more, focusing on my scientific methods. I returned to rocketry - with a newfound passion and determination; I was going to get something off the ground...

Prior to Christmas, I began again with propellant testing - attempting to determine the thrust generated by different propellant formulations in a scientific method. This then lead to further experimentation with makeshift parts I found around the house, before I eventually purchased a 2 meter long PVC (1.5inch diameter) pipe from Wickes and attempted to make a large scale test - I used a wooden dowel of a matching diameter fashioned from a wooden pole (found in the same hardware store). This pipe - used with a bentonite clay nozzle - resulted in an imitation pipe bomb, which, despite the apparent power, still failed to produce any meaningful thrust.

Unfortunately, none of these proved successful.

Fortunately, "Santa" (my parents) got me the 3D printer I wanted for Christmas which then allowed me to implement the CAD skills I had been trying to learn over the last few months. I got at it straight away designing motors, refining my designs, and improving my 3D design skills. This was also a great opportunity for me to learn more about 3D printing and manufacturing, which I deem as a crucial skill within engineering for a great array of projects. After my first launch - witnessing a creation of mine actually leaving the ground and demonstrating significant thrust - I gained a new motivation for the project and am now determined to keep improving, hoping to finally reach my goal of stable flight.

I have a number of new goals for my project:

I hope to be able to implement technology into my rocket designs, namely in the form of flight telemetry, remote controlled launch ignition, and thrust measurement during static fires. I hope to then use this data in a scientific approach to model thrust curves and ultimately determine necessary characteristics for future flights.
I hope to be able to achieve stable steady flight.
In the future I hope to be able to use servos in wing tips to control pitch and roll mid flight.
I hope to gradually expand on the knowledge gained, producing larger and larger rockets with a focus on modular capability, enabling rapid reusability and upgradability with minimum waste product.
I hope to use the full extent of my printers capabilities in order to asses the feasibility and functionality of different materials in rocket design through rigorous and scientific testing of material properties.

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