PunkRocketScience
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I'm awfully late in starting this build thread... But here we go!
The Punk Rocket Science team has joined forces with the creative minds of Tripoli San Diego and DART for this year's Plaster Blaster build.
Jim DeVeau, PRS master margarita mixologist, works for ViaSat and is working on a project that will be launched on a real Proton-M next year. He suggested that we may want to have a scale launch of our own! Tripoli SD members Ron Rickwald and Larry Greenan also work at ViaSat and were recruited for the project. Paul Snow was asked to join the team because of his experience with his Delta II project at PB last year. Val Derkach and Howard Smart were asked to join up as we think that they are pretty outstanding builders... The returning PRS members are Jim DeVeau, Jim McKinley and myself. Rick "Bondo" Frelke and the rest of the Frelke crew are taking the year off from the big projects, but undoubtedly will lend a helping hand prepping the rocket at the event.
I'm attaching a dimensioned drawing of where we are headed. We are planning on flying a two stage version of the rocket, instead of all four stages. We plan to separate the airframe at the interstage lattice coupler. The bottom outboard tubes are actually fuel tanks, not strap on boosters like the Delta II. This gives us a cluster of 6 54mm motors on the booster stage and we will be flying a cluster of 4 54mm motors in the upper stage. I'm still playing with the exact mix of motors for each stage, but more than likely the sustainer will be powered by Pro54 1 grain motors.
The booster stage will have translucent fiberglass removable fins. The top stage will have flip out fins that will deploy at staging.
We are planning on boosting a satellite payload as well! The payload will eject at apogee in a piston/carrier that will fall on a drogue to a lower altitude and then eject the satellite. Should be freakin' cool if it can be made to work right!
We have started manufacturing parts and glassing tubes... Pics to follow soon!
View attachment C__Documents and Settings_Tmullin_Desktop_14 inch Proton Model (1).pdf
The Punk Rocket Science team has joined forces with the creative minds of Tripoli San Diego and DART for this year's Plaster Blaster build.
Jim DeVeau, PRS master margarita mixologist, works for ViaSat and is working on a project that will be launched on a real Proton-M next year. He suggested that we may want to have a scale launch of our own! Tripoli SD members Ron Rickwald and Larry Greenan also work at ViaSat and were recruited for the project. Paul Snow was asked to join the team because of his experience with his Delta II project at PB last year. Val Derkach and Howard Smart were asked to join up as we think that they are pretty outstanding builders... The returning PRS members are Jim DeVeau, Jim McKinley and myself. Rick "Bondo" Frelke and the rest of the Frelke crew are taking the year off from the big projects, but undoubtedly will lend a helping hand prepping the rocket at the event.
I'm attaching a dimensioned drawing of where we are headed. We are planning on flying a two stage version of the rocket, instead of all four stages. We plan to separate the airframe at the interstage lattice coupler. The bottom outboard tubes are actually fuel tanks, not strap on boosters like the Delta II. This gives us a cluster of 6 54mm motors on the booster stage and we will be flying a cluster of 4 54mm motors in the upper stage. I'm still playing with the exact mix of motors for each stage, but more than likely the sustainer will be powered by Pro54 1 grain motors.
The booster stage will have translucent fiberglass removable fins. The top stage will have flip out fins that will deploy at staging.
We are planning on boosting a satellite payload as well! The payload will eject at apogee in a piston/carrier that will fall on a drogue to a lower altitude and then eject the satellite. Should be freakin' cool if it can be made to work right!
We have started manufacturing parts and glassing tubes... Pics to follow soon!
View attachment C__Documents and Settings_Tmullin_Desktop_14 inch Proton Model (1).pdf