The CyLaunch student rocketry team is headed to Huntsville, Alabama to represent Iowa State University in the NASA Student Launch Competition – and you can help them on their way.
The undergraduate student team, part of the Department of Aerospace Engineering’s Make To Innovate (M:2:I) program, is raising funds for the trip with the help of the ISU Foundation. A special Foundation web page allows you to contribute to their effort. You can contribute at any of four levels: Friendly Supporter, Super Fanatic, Rocketry Enthusiast and Exhilarated Engineer.
Each year NASA issues a challenge to university rocketry teams around the nation in the form of the Student Launch Competition. This challenge comes in the form of a list of tasks to be accomplished by a reusable launch vehicle, and includes things such as performing an onboard experiment, autonomous flight and recovery, achieving a target apogee during flight, and a safe and successful recovery of the launch vehicle.
This year’s Student Launch event will be held April 20-23, with rocket launches scheduled for April 23.
CyLaunch has been creating a rocket that is to complete a mission to one mile in altitude carrying a payload.
The launch vehicle must be recovered in a reusable condition, and recovery will be conducted using black powder charges and dual-deployment parachutes. This year’s unique challenge is to create a rocket payload that can locate the landing zone without the assistance of GPS. See more on Facebook.
The deadline for donating to the CyLaunch effort is April 25.