Model Rocketry

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This is a project I worked on between 2014 and 2015, while working as an experimental engineering assistance. Video below.

 

The goal is to make a two-stage "rocket in a rocket." The first stage fires like a normal missile, then the second stage is triggered by an altimeter in the electronics bay. The small rocket fires through a sacrificial paper nosecone, leaving the larger frame in its dust.

 

This design could be conceptualized as a model of an interplanetary rocket. Such a course would involve a procedure similar to the following: The first stage (or set of stages) is used to enter and escape Earth's orbit. The outer shell is then used as a shield to protect the smaller rocket as it enters the atmosphere of Mars and lands. From there, the second stage (or set of stages) would be used to fly back to Earth.