2004 CSXT GoFast Flight Data

To All:

Attached, and at the link below, is the flight data from the 2004 CSXT GoFast rocket, the first amateur rocket to reach space (exceed an altitude of 100 KM). The rocket was launched on May 17, 2004, to an altitude of 380,000 ft.

The 2004 CSXT GoFast Flight Data was smoothed 3-axis accelerometer data. The axial acceleration data is on the first page of the attachment.

The second page of the attachment has the trajectory reconstruction based on the smoothed axial acceleration data. The trajectory reconstruction in Excel spreadsheet form can be found at:

https://ddeville.com/GoFast_Flight_data.xls

View attachment 2004 CSXT GoFast Flight Data.pdf

Chuck Rogers

Chuck, thanks for the link. How was the trajectory calculated with no rotation (gyro) info? Was the assumption that the trajectory was vertical all the way used?

jderimig said:

Chuck, thanks for the link. How was the trajectory calculated with no rotation (gyro) info? Was the assumption that the trajectory was vertical all the way used?

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Based on the 3-axis accelerometer data, magnetometer measured roll rate, the downrange landing point, and measured winds, the launch angle was adjusted as part of the trajectory reconstruction. The magnetometer measured pitch attitude data was not considered accurate as the launch tower interfered with the "zero" reading at launch.


Chuck Rogers

More data. Velocity and Mach Number based on the axial acceleration data. The 2004 CSXT GoFast flight set an amateur rocket speed record of 3,420 mph. Max Mach Number was 5.18, burnout Mach Number was 4.99. It was the first Hypersonic amateur rocket.



Erosive burning propellant characteristics (mass flux) for the S motor D-8 propellant. The increase in burn rate over the normal log-log straight line is erosive burning.




Chuck Rogers

Attached is a pre-launch photo of the 2004 CSXT GoFast rocket in the launch tower, taken the day before the launch. Yours truly is in the picture, I'm the one wearing the blue-gray shirt in the sea of red shirts.

Chuck Rogers

Chuck Rogers said:

Attached is a pre-launch photo of the 2004 CSXT GoFast rocket in the launch tower, taken the day before the launch. Yours truly is in the picture, I'm the one wearing the blue-gray shirt in the sea of red shirts.

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Got any scale data on this rocket (or the 2014 follow-up) that you might be able to share, Chuck?

James

James Duffy said:

Got any scale data on this rocket (or the 2014 follow-up) that you might be able to share, Chuck?

James

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James:

Unfortunately, since the 2004 CSXT GoFast rocket led to a commercial design, and the 2014 CSXT GoFast rocket was based on that commercial design, scale data for both rockets is not releasable at this time.


Chuck Rogers

Who is the commercial company?

bandman444 said:

Who is the commercial company?

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Would that be UP Aerospace? Kurt

ksaves2 said:

Would that be UP Aerospace? Kurt

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That would be UP Aerospace. See the SpaceLoft XL sounding rocket.


Chuck Rogers

Cool. That would have been my guess.

In that case you can download some CAD files from their website for the payload sections. Estes also makes a kit of SpaceLoftXL, but I wouldn't use that. I have a lot of high rez photos from the launches my friends have been to, that I have been using for my CAD drawings. It is a very nice design.

As always, congratulations to the CSXT team.

Even if the more I learn about the project, the less "amateur" it seems.

This is the "standard" design of an "inexpensive" single stage rocket that will get to over 100 km. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceLoft_XL

Pretty much any sim you run will lead you to a 20' long, 10" O.D. rocket design with 4 spin fins weighing ~800 pounds with an APCP motor with ~100 kNs total impulse with a nominal 8 kN - 10 kN thrust for 10-12 second range. More detail here. https://www.upaerospace.us.com/custom-1/UPA PUG Lite R121214.pdf

Bob

Is it true that there was a burn through on the case at the end of the burn? I've heard that rumor floating around.

THarrison said:

Is it true that there was a burn through on the case at the end of the burn? I've heard that rumor floating around.

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There was no burn through of the motor case, but 5 sec into the approximately 13.5 sec burn (and after about 60% of the total impulse had been expended) a portion of the nozzle exit cone had ablated/eroded to the point where it got too thin, and a symmetric segment of the nozzle exit cone broke off and was ejected. You can see the point where part of the nozzle exit cone came off in the thrust curve based on the flight data published in a tech article on the 2004 CSXT GoFast S Motor in the April 2012 issue of Rockets Magazine. The loss in thrust when a portion of the nozzle exit cone broke off was approximately 8%. The nozzle flow expanded from where a portion of the exit cone broke off into the inner portion of the fin can, with the fin can acting as a poorly shaped final portion of the nozzle exit cone for the rest of the burn.


Chuck Rogers