Blast Imminent From Bulldog’s Rocketry
Bulldog Rocketry club members at the Spaceport America Cup. Photo courtesy of Anna O’Brien.
Open to all, this week’s Tuesday UMD Rocketry Meeting was all about preparing for their next public motor test on Nov. 2 at the UMD farm and a presentation by Laura Lock, UMN’s manager of Environmental Health and Safety.
“A lot of our members are engineers, however I am actually computer science. Other ones we have marketing, graphic design. There are no requirements,” said Anna O’Brien, the Chief Operations Officer responsible for the club's organization.
The Rocketry meeting started as any other, with each of the department leads briefing on what upcoming projects are taking place. The most important piece of business was about the upcoming motor test. Using a hand-built frame in the ground, they will measure the amount of thrust produced, ambient air temperature and the internal heat of the motor. The test will be a public event for supporters and the community to get an up-close look at the progress the team has made.
Bulldog Rocketry club building their rockets. Photo courtesy of Anna O’Brien.
The motor being tested will be used in the team's entry for the International Rocketry Engineering Competition. At this event, they directly compete with larger schools across the world and some that are close, such as UMN Twin Cities. They will compete in the 30,000-foot student research and developed (SRAD) category and manufacture every part of the rocket themselves, from the electronics inside to the fuel that is used.
“Our rocket managed to get to 30,848 ft, however, we did not have a separation event so our parachute did not come out,” O’Brien said. This year they achieved 4th place with the 14ft rocket they spent the school year building.
Rocketry members with their finished product. Photo courtesy of Anna O’Brien.
A change to this week's meeting was a safety briefing by Laura Lock. As the manager of UMN’s Environmental Health and Safety, she is in charge of the EHS employees at the Duluth, Rochester, Morris and Crookston campuses. These lectures are crucial for students as this may be the first time they have handled these materials and equipment that pose a threat to their health.
Looking towards the future, the club has big plans for a potential “space shot”. This rocket would be designed to go up to 330,000 ft and reach the Kármán line, the name for the barrier between our atmosphere and space. The CEO of the club, Rachel Cirillo, said, “Only 10 universities have attempted and achieved a space shot, so it would be really cool if we can actually get up there.” While that project is still years away, the team will be looking forward to the creation of their rocket for next summer's launch.