Rebel Rockets-Day 8

We decided to construct more tubes. We also made a new parachute because we thought the plastic bag by itself wouldn't do so well as we originally thought. We made the new parachute out of cellophane we found lying around. We made it a circle, which we thought would do well. Then we figured out a new way to fold the parachute, and this way worked very well because it opened up completely all the time when we tested it out. We made new fins and attached them to an old tube that we constructed the other day so that we had a completed rocket. Then we went to the field to test out the rocket, but it turned out to be way too windy for a test launch, so we decided to delay the test for tomorrow. The purpose of this test was to see if the rocket would work properly, which includes the recovery system working as well. Tomorrow hopefully will not be as windy so that we can test it out and see if we can get a home made rocket to work. Time is running short, and we still have to test out the variables for our project.

-Christian

Today we started off with building a new parachute as our old one was lost and may not have been as reliable as we thought. We used some cellophane and we constructed it so it would hopefully work better than our old parachute and maybe eject better. So far it seems to be the case as it unravels when we test it out. We then began constructing another rocket so we can test out our new parachute with a fuselage that was already built by fitting the engine, adding the cone and wadding, and some newly constructed fins. We went to the school to test out our rocket but we decided not to because it was too windy. So we decided to launch the rocket off in the morning when it will hopfully not be as windy as today. I hope that the parachute will work this time around as we need to make sure that the accerlerometer will not break when the rocket comes back to earth.

-Kushal

We kept building today. We made a new parachute since the other was lost before, and we also made some more fuselages. We were pushing to get a rocket done so we could see if we could finally get a successful launch, however when we got to the school it was really windy, and after several failures and one probably due to weather we decided to wait until tomorrow. While this was a good idea I'm kind of disappointed since I won't be able to make it tomorrow. We really really need that to be successful we're running out of time so we gotta stop making mistakes.

-Mike B.

Today was another day for building. We modified the parachute design into a more compact, circular shape. Hopefully this will increase the chances that the recovery system functions. We also tried out using a new, flat shock cord. Its flatness should make it easier to attach to the top of the rocket fuselage.

-Mike S.

Today was spent mostly building. We created more tubes for the rockets, and created a new parachute. We purchased a new shock cord that will have more surface area to keep the shock cord attached. This will keep the parachute attached to the rocket itself. We were going to test out the rocket, but it was too windy. We decided to test the rocket out tomorrow for safety reasons. If tomorrow's launch is successful, we will be able to begin testing our variables.

-Ben W

Today we started by meeting and deciding on a new design for a parachute. We chose to make a circle out of a more compactible material. We also found a better way to fit the parachute in the tube to increase the chance of it ejecting correctly. Then we proceded to work on making more fuselages until late in the day. We went to the field to launch the rocket, but found that it was too windy, which may have caused the rocket to blow to far off course. We will try to launch early tomorrow.

-Scott