Archive for Current (Active) Projects

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The very late report on Nala1’s recent missions…

Sep30
by cgould on September 30, 2012 at 5:38 AM
Posted In: XR2 (Artemis) Medium power booster Project

Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio –

Artemis Launch System rocket Nala1 had two spectacular flights a couple months ago.

The July 28th missions proved that the rocket is OK for “tumble recovery” during the first of two recovery events.  This involves the rocket separating at apogee, and tumbling in a flat spin until reaching a pre-determined height above the ground (400 feet) to deploy the main parachute for a soft landing.

Both missions were absolutely wonderful, though the second  flight (ALS-049) had a slight mishap…operator error on my part.  I used a parachute deployment charge that didn’t have enough black powder to fully deploy the parachute.  The rocket landed fine with no damage to the rocket.  ALS-049 returned some dramatic pictures from its flight, though!

First we have a great shot showing the flame tail whipping around behind the fins…

ALS-049 launch

Since ALS-049 launched during a light drizzle, there was this breath-taking photo as Nala catches a view of a rainbow only visible from 1053 feet in the air…

Mission ALS-049 rainbow

Then there is the cool view of the booster separation at apogee…

ALS-049 apogee

And these series of shots showing the business end of the parachute ejection baffle just after event #2 occurs…

ALS-048 and ALS049 were a great couple of missions!

The next mission(s) is scheduled for October 13th.  Nala rocket is ready for two more milestones.

1) The first flight using a CTI rocket motor (I’ve only used Aerotech re-loadable motors on my higher power flights so far…)

2) The next flight also marks a milestone as it will be the 50th launch of the Artemis Launch System.  (ALS-050)

More info as the date gets closer!

((( )))

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Nala1 mission 6 update

Jul22
by cgould on July 22, 2012 at 5:21 PM
Posted In: XR2 (Artemis) Medium power booster Project

(Sunday, July 22, 2012 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH)

As I prepare Nala1 for mission #7 this weekend (July 28th), I realized that in all of the craziness of the past couple of weeks, I didn’t create a blog entry for mission 6 yet!

Nala1 mission 6 (ALS-047) was a picture perfect flight, lifting off gracefully from the MTMA high power launch pad, and soaring to a height of 1063 feet.  Top speed was 249 MPH.

The specific goal of this mission was to test apogee recovery using just a streamer for a “drogue” parachute.  If the payload section of Nala1 could stay at a higher position from the lower booster section, the test would be a success, which is was!   The end result of this test was to try to further minimize “wind drift” from apogee (1063 feet) to the altitude of the main parachute deployment (400 feet).  This was accomplished.

At recovery, the main parachute was deployed near the only rocket catching tree in the field, and so I had to recover Nala1 from that tree.  No damage to the rocket from that mission at all.

This weekend’s scheduled mission will test an apogee decent with no streamer or parachute (drogueless).  If this looks good, then all future flights will be drogueless for Nala1, and for the next generation of “Harmon Flying Field rockets”.

There is your quick update on mission ALS-047!

 

((( )))

 

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Nala1 mission updates…

Jun25
by cgould on June 25, 2012 at 9:08 AM
Posted In: XR2 (Artemis) Medium power booster Project

(Sunday, June 24, 2011 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH)

The mission updates for Artemis / Nala1 missions ALS044, ALS045, and ALS046 are long overdue, so here they are!

On Saturday, June 9, 2012, Nala1 flew two test flights.  The first of which, ALS044 had a good launch.  Wind gusts “kicked up” as the launch was in progress, which caused the rocket to experience a bit of a “wiggle” as it left the launch rail.  Nala1 recovered nicely, reaching an altitude of 960 feet.

The lower altitude was from the shaky launch, which put Nala1 on a trajectory that was less than ideal for maximum height.  Nala1 reached a peak speed of 230 MPH.

The drogue parachute deployed on the mark, but the secondary deployment charge overpressurized the booster section causing a separation of the booster from the rest of the rocket.

The booster fell from roughly 600 feet, and experienced some damage at impact. The rest of the rocket landed safely as the main deployment systems worked without incident.

After a repair to the booster lasting about two hours, Nala1 was ready for its next test flight for the day, mission ALS045.  ALS045 was a pretty routine launch, successful drogue deployment, but the main parachute was “stuck” in the parachute bay.   Nala1 landed under drogue parachute only.  There was no damage.

Mission ALS045 stats:

Maximum altitude: 980 Feet

Maximum speed: 230 MPH

On June 10, Nala1 was ready for its last test flight of the weekend.  During the flight of mission ALS046, the launch & drogue parachute deployment events were right on the mark.   During the main parachute deployment event, there was an over-pressurization of the main parachute baffle, which caused a cascade failure resulting in the separation of the upper section of the rocket from the lower one.

Again, no damage as the booster landed under drogue parachute deployment, and the upper section was on the main parachute.

Mission ALS046 stats:

Maximum altitude: 996 Feet

Maximum speed: 240 MPH

After reviewing the data from the last three launches, I’ve made design changes to the upper baffle system to allow for greater variations in the “power” of the deployment charges.  This system was ground tested on Saturday (June 23rd) with a much larger than normal ejection charge, and the system passed with flying colors.

Nala1’s next mission is tentatively scheduled for July 14th, 2012.  Two flights are scheduled, both are designed to test the solutions to the problems experienced off-and-on during her past six missions.

More info as we are closer to the date!

((( )))

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