USLI Testing Proceeding Interestingly

Our USLI project is progressing on schedule. We completed the building and launch of a scale model of our launch vehicle, which went very well. Even in a light breeze it was very stable and flew straight and true. Both flights were very consistent, and had almost identical trajectories. I tried to take pictures, but even on a B6 motor the rocket accelerated out of the picture within at least 0.33 seconds (sports mode on my camera snaps three shots per second).

 

We've also been testing different sizes and shapes of parachutes by dropping the the payload off the top-floor of the atrium in Howe Hall. So far our tests have been inconclusive, but we now know what we need in order to do more thorough testing. But the results we did get look promising. By shortening the lines on one side of the parachute by about an inch, the parachute definitely appears to glide in that direction. I'll post more information when we do more thorough testing.

One of my favorite things about flying in the winter is how rockets tend to "stick" the landing.