The Mavericks Civilian Space Foundation, The Paton Group, and Inspirtech LLC today announce the formation of a strategic alliance whose mission is to establish a Space Education Research Center ("SERC") located in 5 regional centers throughout California over the next 5 years.

The facilities will provide the state of the art CAD/CAM/CAE/CNC technology and equipment along with the latest training curriculum and certifications in support of high school and middle school students designing and building their own sub-orbital space vehicles as participants in the "Mavericks in the Classroom" Explorers and Jr. Explorers STEM Education programs. The facilities will also support research and development initiatives operating as part of Mavericks' NASA partnership and some of the worlds leading Universities currently in partnership with the foundation.

 The first facility will be located in northern San Francisco Bay Area and will be operational later this year. Each year an additional SERC will be opened in Sacramento, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and San Diego, supporting participating schools in those regions. Specific information regarding the equipment, services, and capabilities will be disclosed as part of the announcement of the opening of each facility.

"Instructors & students have always enjoyed learning and utilizing the industrial standard CAD/CAM/CNC tools provided by The Paton Group," explains Frank Paton. "By combining our technology and machine tools with the "Mavericks in the Classroom" STEM education initiative and 'Explorers' program curriculum, students will experience a true "real world" and collaborative STEM project guaranteed to knock their socks off." Paton continues "I can't think of a better way to energize and excite our country's future engineers, scientists, machinists, designers and technologists than designing, testing and fabricating a sub-orbital rocket to launch a few hundred thousand feet into space. Our team at Paton Group is looking forward to a long lasting partnership in supporting Mavericks and and parties involved."

"Learning starts with inspiration and is solidified with the application of knowledge," explains Al Whatmough, CEO of Inspirtech LLC.  "As students design, test and manufacture rockets, the hunger to learn and apply real-world STEM based skills is unparalleled." Whatmough goes on to say, "Inspirtech is proud to a part of this revolutionary program that is inspiring a generation of engineers in the same way that the Space Race did." 

First off: Dark Matter.  Dark Matter is a sparky propellant but unlike Metalstorm with it’s higher ISP and white smoke, Dark Matter is the black smoke sparky.  Three motors were certified in this propellant.

H178DM-14A  This load for the 38-360 case tested out as a 77% H with 283 Total NS, from a propellant weight of 177 grams, total motor weight of 324 grams.  The curve shows a motor accelerating to 30 pounds off the pad, rising to 45 pounds max at the 1.2 second point continuing to 30 pounds at the 1.6 second point where it dropped to zero at 1.74 seconds and a 162 N average.

I327DM-14A  This load for the 38-720 case tested out as a 68% I with 539 Total NS, from a propellant weight of 354 grams, total motor weight of 628 grams.  The curve shows a motor accelerating to a 90 pound max off the pad, reducing to a sustainer value of about 80 pounds until reaching the 1.4 second point dropping to zero at the 1.72 seconds recorded burn time with a 313 N average.

K456DM-14A  This load for the 54-1706 case tested out as a 0% K with 1281 Total NS, from a propellant weight of 866 grams, total motor weight of 1484 grams.  The curve shows a motor accelerating to a 120 pound max off the pad, reducing to a sustainer value of about 110 pounds until reaching the 2 second point rounding down to 90 pounds at the 2.6 second point, dropping to zero at the 2.897 seconds recorded burn time with a 438 N average..

Second off is a high ISP propellant call Propellant X.  It is a fast burning long yellow/white flame with low smoke.

K1103X-14A  This load is also for the 54-1706 case and tested out as a 39% K with 1789.5 Total NS, from a propellant weight of 830 grams, total motor weight of 1459 grams.  The curve shows a motor accelerating to a 400 pound max off the pad, reducing to a sustainer value of about 300 pounds with a slow down curve to 240 pounds at the 1.4 second point, dropping to zero at the 1.6 second recorded burn time for a 1134 N Average.

Congrats to the Aerotech team for four new motors successfully certified and continued success.

Paul Holmes

Chairman, Tripoli Motor Testing

Ann Marie Trotta
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1601
ann.marie.trotta@nasa.gov

Angela Storey
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
angela.d.storey@nasa.gov
Jan. 5, 2012

RELEASE: H-12-002

FIFTY-SEVEN STUDENT ROCKET TEAMS TO TAKE NASA LAUNCH CHALLENGE

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- More than 500 students from middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities in 29 states will show their rocketeering prowess in the 2011-12 NASA Student Launch Projects flight challenge. The teams will build and test large-scale rockets of their own design in April.

NASA created the twin Student Launch Projects to spark students' imaginations, challenge their problem-solving skills and give them real-world experience. The project aims to complement the science, mathematics and engineering lessons they study in the classroom.

A record 57 teams of engineering, math and science students will take part in the annual challenge, organized by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Fifteen middle and high school teams will tackle the non-competitive Student Launch Initiative, while 42 college and university teams will compete in the University Student Launch Initiative. The latter features a $5,000 first-place award provided by ATK Aerospace Systems of Salt Lake City, Utah.

"Just as NASA partners with innovative companies such as ATK to pursue the nation's space exploration mission, these young rocketeers pool their talent and ingenuity to solve complex engineering problems and fly sophisticated machines," said Tammy Rowan, manager of Marshall's Academic Affairs Office.

"This competition is extremely important to ATK to mentor and train our future workforce," said Charlie Precourt, ATK general manager and vice president of Space Launch Systems. Precourt is a former space shuttle astronaut who piloted STS-71 in 1995 and commanded STS-84 in 1997 and STS-91 in 1998. "ATK is proud to enter our fifth year as a partner with NASA on this initiative to engage the next generation. The competition grows in impact each year."

Each Student Launch Projects team will build a powerful rocket, complete with a working science or engineering payload, which the team must design, install and activate during the rocket launch. The flight goal is to come as close as possible to an altitude of 1 mile, requiring a precise balance of aerodynamics, mass and propulsive power.

As in classroom studies, participants must "show their work," writing detailed preliminary and post-launch reports and maintaining a public website for their rocket-building adventure. Each team also must develop educational engagement projects for schools and youth organizations in its community, inspiring the imaginations and career passions of future explorers.

In April, the teams will converge at Marshall, where NASA engineers will put the students' creations through the same kind of rigorous reviews and safety inspections applied to the nation's space launch vehicles. On April 21, students will firing their rockets toward the elusive 1-mile goal, operating onboard payloads and waiting for chutes to open, signaling a safe return to Earth.

The student teams will vie for a variety of awards for engineering skill and ingenuity, team spirit and vehicle design. These include two new prizes: a pair of TDS2000 Series oscilloscopes, which are sophisticated tools for studying the change in flow of electrical voltage or current. Donated by Tektronix Inc. of Beaverton, Ore., the oscilloscopes will be presented to the two school teams that earn the "Best Payload" and "Best Science Mission Directorate Challenge Payload" honors.

This year's participants hail from Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. For a complete competitor list and more information about the challenge, visit:

http://education.msfc.nasa.gov/sli

http://education.msfc.nasa.gov/usli

The NASA Student Launch Projects are sponsored collaboratively by NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Science Mission Directorate and Office of Education Flight Projects. For more information about NASA education initiatives, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

-end-

Rocket Calculator is a suite of handy field tools often needed in

Rocketry. At the time of this writing (version 1.0.61), there are nine
calculators. The current list is:
•       Thrust to weight ratio
•       Parachute size and descent rate
•       Drift distance
•       Streamer size and descent rate
•       Streamer size (alternate calculation method)
•       Ejection charge
•       Static pressure port size
•       Single-station altitude tracking
•       Two-station altitude tracking

Some additional features include:
•       Granular unit preferences.
•       Ability to print (requires an Air Print enabled printer) or email calculation results.

•       Quick reference information.
        o       Impulse range table
        o       US number and letter drill bit gauge conversion (used with static
                 port pressure calculator).
        o       Safety codes, launch site dimension and minimum distance tables.

There are plans to add more calculators and information resources in
the near future.

Rocket Calculator runs natively on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, and
is supported on iOS 4.2 and above.

For the the latest information or to order the app, visit http://www.rocketcalculator.com/.