Wow - so nice to be doing something for a living that you are passionate about - it will never feel like work - hold onto that! I will never forget standing next to the Saturn rocket and feeling like an ant - it was huge. I think the public's interest has lessened since the wind up of the shuttle program and nothing has yet filled its place - we need industry to pick up the baton from where big government left off...
How far did your student rocket go up?
I look forward to the blog of the new Sea-launch rocket.
Our rocket didn't go very far. We just had the challenge of bringing a raw egg and a 0.5kg crystal to a height as close to 1000 feet as possible, with a total flight duration as possible to 50 seconds. The egg would have to stay whole, so we had to figure out a way to ensure the rocket would split up after reaching target altitude, and release a parachute that would make a soft landing. And to make sure that the whole cycle could be done as close as possible to the target duration from launch till touchdown.
Our rocket went up ~725 feet (due to windly conditions we had to launch it a mit more sideways, reducing the height). I was just happy that our rocket made it, and that the egg was whole at the landing :D
That's a pretty good result - very well done - is there any footage?
Thanks! Yes, I was very happy about it. Especially as I had no hands on experience with rockets, and was doing something completely new and out of my comfort-zone. There is a video of the launch but I am going to post a blog dedicated to that event, and what I learned from it, when I have a 5 year anniversary of the day in roughly 1 week from now :)
Anyways here is a full group photo we took with the International Space University participants in front of the Launchpad 39A. (You may recognise it from the recent SpaceX launches). I'm the one holding the pink rocket :D
What a fantastic momento of your achievement - really look forward to the blog at the 5 year anniversary!