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May 16th, 2008
Many significant milestones have been reached on the MiniSShot project.
 Nose Cone Completion: Roman Lev has put in approximately 500 hours of blood sweat and tears to produce our nosecone. It is designed to be a scaled down prototype of the nosecone that will sit atop the ExSShot and includes not only light weight and strength but has an ablative point to withstand the high heat that the ExSShot will face as our rocket reaches speeds in excess of 5000km/hr.
Completion of the Motor: Over the past 6 months the Propulsion Team has worked hard at the design and fabrication of the motor that will power MiniSShot. This unique dual stage motor was completed in late March and sent to the testing crew in California. The mid-bulkhead and the nozzle have a special thermal ablative layer which made the fabrication especially challenging. The ablative plays a key role in keeping critical parts of the motor from overheating.
 Propellant Casting: On April 5, Matt Campbell, Rick Maschek and Brent Dougherty along with Sam Grado from PVCOnly (who supplied the raw ingredients) made 24 segments of propellant for the MiniSShot. This was an impressive all day effort and should supply enough propellant for 2 firings.
Static Firing of the MiniSShot Motor: On April 26 a static firing of the MiniSShot motor took place at the FAR facility in the Mojave desert. The first burn went very smoothly and the motor appeared to operate as expected. After the planned 10 second "coast" delay, the second chamber was ignited, and within a second, casing rupture occurred just aft of the mid-bulkhead joint. Although reminiscent of the earlier BEM failures, the cause does not appear to be the same. Current analysis indicates that a nozzle blockage likely occurred due to heat-related degradation and subsequent collapse of the propellant casting tubes during the 10 second delay. The investigation continues and has, to date, revealed a number of deficiencies, which may have contributed to the problem. Remedial actions are being undertaken to correct the deficiencies and to provide for a more robust design of the motor.
A huge debt of gratitude is owed to Matt Campbell, Brent Dougherty and Rick Maschek who worked doggedly to prepare the propellant, motor and test rig in time for the planned firing date. A huge thanks also goes out to Randy Dormans who provided much appreciated technical guidance at the site, and to Joseph Mahaney, who video-recorded the event and helped out in other ways as well.
Avionics and Recovery Systems
Good progress has been made in development of the avionics and recovery systems required to ensure a safe and timely recovery of the MiniSShot vehicle following its ascent to apogee. Work continues on the development of in-flight video recording,. including real-time transmission to the ground support team.
New Updates to Website and New Members: Andrew Nowakowski has come on board the team to assist us on website development. Look for some new features (like bios for our members) and updated pages and links. Many thanks go to Knut for his help and continued support.
Shawn McHatten has also joined the team to provide Project Management assistance. Shawn will also take on a key role in the area of technical development.
Look to our Documentation and Showcase pages for the links to more details on the items above and many more exciting events that have happened over the past 8 months.
September 25th, 2007
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The Mini Sugar Shot
project (MiniSShot), which started in late spring
of this year, is progressing well, with a lot of significant
accomplishments being made over the past few months.
This 1/3 scaled-down version of our 100 km rocket
is beginning to take shape. The nosecone has been
designed and construction of the mould has begun.
The avionics, which will be housed inside the nosecone,
have been largely defined and some parts have already
been built. Construction of motor components has progressed
well and a static firing of the assembled motor is
expected to occur in the not-too-distant future. Recently,
Stratofox
has agreed to work with our team to help in tracking
and recovery of our rocket vehicles.
Being solely a volunteer
effort, our project has faced inherent challenges,
such as personnel attrition (due to personal challenges)
and commitments to summertime activities. Efforts
have been taken to improve communication between
members, such a regular Skype conference calls.
This in itself is an interesting logistical challenge,
considering members are scattered across disparate
time zones.
Visit our Documentation
page for the latest technical reports relating to
MiniSShot, including our first three Progress Reports.
A Showcase Gallery
with photos of our collective MiniSShot effort has
recently been created and is expected to flourish
with the addition of many more photos over the coming
months.
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June 13th, 2007
Since the
last update, there have been some important and
exciting changes to the Sugar Shot to Space program,
as well as some concrete developments.
The project that
was, is now a program, encompassing a cascade of
projects that are intended to serve as key stepping
stones on our journey to the edge of space. A brand
new Scope document has been released, outlining
these projects which involve a series of rocket
test vehicles and test motors.
 Read
more |
September 23th, 2006
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SUCCESS!
The1/4 scale Ballistic Evaluation Motor (BEM) was
successfully test fired on Saturday, September 23rd.
The motor performed
impressively - as the countdown reached zero, the
motor roared to life and burned forcefully for the
expected three seconds. Following a planned delay
of eighteen seconds, the motor was re-ignited and
burned impressively for another three second duration.
Examination of the motor after the firing showed it
to be in pristine condition. Design improvements that
had been incorporated over the course of time since
the initial test firing of this motor paid off handsomely.
Performance data was successfully collected and will
be analyzed in the days and weeks to come.
For an complete report on the event please visit:
Read
more |
July 29, 2006
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The third test
The third test firing of the 1/4 scale motor took
place on July 29th. Several improvements had been
made to the motor and to the test instrumentation.
The motor was fitted with a stronger, thermally insulated
casing to resist the extreme thermal loading made
apparent from the prior test firings. The instrumentation
was improved both with regard to reliability and precision,
based on lessons learned from the earlier firings.
Following an impressive
first phase burn, a decision was made to abort firing
of the second phase following a start failure, the
consequence of a "safe/arm" switch inadvertently
not being activated prior to the firing. Despite
the incompleteness of the test, there were many
positive outcomes. The data acquisition systems
for the thermocouples, load cells and pressure transducers
worked flawlessly and much useful data was acquired.
The motor survived in pristine condition, and will
need only to have the first phase reloaded before
he next firing attempt is made in September. A TV
film crew that had requested to film the event for
a future documentary on rocketry was present and
provided a new and exciting experience in working
under watched conditions. For an extended report
on the event please visit:
Read
more |
April 17, 2006
The second 1/4 scale BEM firing
The second 1/4 scale BEM firing is now in the books, having
taken place this past Saturday April 15. Unfortunately,
the results of this test were not as successful as we
had hoped for.
As had happened with the
first firing, the 1st phase casing burst late into the
2nd phase burn. Again, the 1st phase burn was beautiful,
and the 2nd phase burn looked great initally. Clearly
the thermal loading of the casing due to the 2nd burn
was extreme, and failure occurred despite measures taken
to reduce heating of the casing (such as phenolic casing
liner). In the video,
the 1st phase casing can be seen to discolor (bluing)
at the point where it ruptured. Interestingly, the casing
did not burst at the seam (as it did in the first firing)
but on the opposite side. Although used with great success
for normal rocket motors, EMT tubing is clearly not adequate
for 1st phase casing material of a dual-phase motor. For
the next BEM test, 4130 alloy casing with a significantly
thicker wall will be used in conjunction with carefully
chosen thermal insulation.
Due to a problem with the instrumentation
power supply, electronic thrust and pressure data was
not successfully collected. Fortunately, good thrust and
pressure data was collected by the redundant analog gauges
(videotaped). Good thermal data was collected this time,
which will hopefully prove to be useful in better understanding
the thermal loading that is going on in the motor under
dual-phase operation.
January 29, 2006
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Several
goals achieved
There have been a number of major developments in
our quest for reaching space! The ¼ scale
Ballistic Evaluation Motor (BEM) was test fired
on January 22nd in the Mojave Desert. The test was
considered to be largely a success, despite a casing
rupture late in the second-phase burn. Several goals
were achieved, including the primary goal of demonstrating
the viability of our “dual-phase” concept.
Although all aspects
of the firing are still being evaluated, the casing
rupture appears, at this time, to be a result of
a faulty seam.
Photos and video are available for viewing at our
Showcase page.
| BEM
facts: |
Overall
length 5.5 feet (1.7 m.)
Diameter: 2.9 inches (73 mm)
Propellant mass: 16 lbs. (7.2 kg.) |
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Another major step forward
in our project was the recent purchase of composite
tubing of the type that is being considered for
the airframe/motor of the SStS rocket vehicle. The
acquired tubing will be utilized for a variety of
purposes, including structural testing, fin &
nosecone fitment and, in a more exciting vein, for
a “Short Stack” BEM. It is believed
that this test motor will be the largest “sugar
propellant” motor ever made.
In other developments, significant progress has
been made in defining the Payload and its integration
into the launch, burn and recovery phases of the
SStS mission. Large-scale propellant manufacturing
processes have been studied in detail and experimental
work has already begun in support of this key element
of the project. |
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December 8, 2005
The 1/4 scale BEM test scheduled
for December 3rd at the Reaction Research Society's launch
site in the Mojave desert was scrubbed primarily due to
the fact that the test equipment necessary for measuring
the pressure of the second phase, as well as the equipment
necessary for measuring the outputs from the temperature
sensors, were not fully assembled and ready. A new tentative
date has been set for early January 2006.
October 1, 2005
Big news regarding the SS2S Project
status! The Phase 1 "Initial Feasibility" study has now
been successfully concluded, and the decision has been
made to move ahead to Phase 2 of the Project - "Research
& Design". Click on the "Project Status" link to find
out more about this exciting and very challenging phase
of the Project.
A document which provides a
detailed description of the "Initial Feasibility" investigations
that have been undertaken in support of the SS2S Project
is now available.
Download
here
August 27, 2005
The call for Project team members
has resulted in considerable response. Many new team members
(worldwide) have been added to the various team rosters.
There is still a great need for futher team members, especially
for the supporting teams. In particular, we are seeking
a central location for banking and distribution of funds.
Sponsors are now on board for
composite materials supply, titanium fabrication for the
motor, web hosting and vehicle electronics. New sponsors
are always needed, as well as donors.
On the technical side of things,
vehicle optimization design work is progressing well.
The basic motor configuration has been settled, and will
constitute an unconventional design which has been deemed
"dual-phase". Simply put, this is a two-stage design in
a single-stage motor. Proof of concept will be achieved
by a 1/4 scale ballistic evaluation motor (BEM).
Design of this motor has begun, and fabrication of parts
for the BEM is set to begin soon.
August 8, 2005
The Phase 1 feasibility study is
progressing well. Simulations indicate that the goal of
sending a "sugar propellant" rocket to 100 km
is indeed feasible, despite the relatively low specific
impulse of this propellant. The basic configuration of
the vehicle has been largely defined.
Payload studies are well underway.
Regulatory issues have been investigated with encouraging
results. Cost estimation is set to begin, and the search
for sponsors and funding is the next key item on the agenda.
The recruitment of new Team members continues.
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