Sep 25, 2007 12:50
this is exam week.
physics test monday.
model rocket launch, philosophy paper and statics test tuesday.
a statistics exam next week.
the model rocket project is for my intro to aerospace class. the class was divided into groups of three. we had about two weeks to make the model after being given a kit with a tube, wood, sandpaper, amd an engine. since i really didn't want to have to rush during the last week to finish this, i emailed my partners a few days after it was assigned. only one of my partners showed up to the first meeting. we did some rough calculations of the distance it should travel. we had another meeting to decide the shape of the rocket a few days later. then during our next two meetings we cut out and assembled the rocket. during none of these meetings did our third partner show up. dan and i did the whole project by ourselves. last night our third sent dan a text message asking to meet at 10 pm. honestly, he had no idea that we even built a rocket. somehow he found us during before we launched our rocket, and so he helped us set it up. we have a final report due in two weeks, i have no idea what he's going to put in it. he's done absolutely nothing.
we launched the rocket this morning at 9:30. it went fairly well. our rocket went 186' 6". i think the top rocket went a little over 220 feet. the craziest rocket had just about no body tube and a six inch wing span. i think their engine was within the nose cone and they had wings that would have been more appropriate for a plane. when their rocket was revealed, everyone thought the exact same thing: either it's going to be the greatest rocket and fly over 300 feet, or it's going to suck and crash into the ground immediately. the rocket flew in a corkscrew path and nose dived to the ground. i think the team's idea was to get it high into the air and let it glide smoothly down. and that's not a terrible idea, but their wings didn't allow them to fly straight into the air. it was pretty funny to watch.
Jason