MattM
Member
I'm a member of a rocketry team at Purdue University, and our team's rocket broke apart right before burnout, probably supersonic. I thought we broke a fin, but the fincan was recovered with all 4 fins still solidly attached. Any ideas on the cause of failure? Video footage, wreckage, and .ork are attached.
I should say that the rocket was supposed to be spin stabilized (bad idea from the start, I know), and the failure probably had something to do with that, as OpenRocket predicted a 2200 RPM spin at Max-Q. I'd still like to understand the exact cause of failure though, as our team is looking towards a space shot in the (far) future, and spin stabilization is very attractive for that type of launch.
Rocket design:
54mm min diameter, flying on a K540M with the Aerotech adapter in a 54-2800 case.
Full fiberglass
Fincan was recovered fully intact, other than a zippered body tube
Avionics:
AltusMetrum Telemega and EasyMini, on fully redundant circuits
Featherweight GPS
Head-end traditional Dual Deploy
I should say that the rocket was supposed to be spin stabilized (bad idea from the start, I know), and the failure probably had something to do with that, as OpenRocket predicted a 2200 RPM spin at Max-Q. I'd still like to understand the exact cause of failure though, as our team is looking towards a space shot in the (far) future, and spin stabilization is very attractive for that type of launch.
Rocket design:
54mm min diameter, flying on a K540M with the Aerotech adapter in a 54-2800 case.
Full fiberglass
Fincan was recovered fully intact, other than a zippered body tube
Avionics:
AltusMetrum Telemega and EasyMini, on fully redundant circuits
Featherweight GPS
Head-end traditional Dual Deploy