CO2 Rocket

cults3d

The final project in my daughter's class was a Carbon Dioxide powered rocket that she designed and built herself. The constraints specified by her teachers were a length limit of 300mm, a thickness limit of 50mm, and a maximum fin protrusion of 30mm. To launch the rockets, they were attached to a 400-meter long braided fishing line strung between two poles. A trigger device was used to puncture the 8-gram Carbon Dioxide canisters, which propelled the rockets horizontally. The time and distance each rocket traveled was carefully measured and recorded by her classmates. After researching two references online at sargrocket.org, my daughter created a unique design that incorporated a parabolic nose cone to position the center of pressure behind the center of gravity, providing directional stability. She also designed tapered airfoils for the fins to improve control surface performance while minimizing drag, which in turn reduced overall drag due to the rocket's self-stability. The tail was tapered inward to minimize drag during the glide phase after the propellant was exhausted. Her rocket successfully covered the entire distance and even flew unaided over the second half of the course after the line broke. Unfortunately, it suffered damage to its nose and tail upon impact at the end of the course due to poor-quality photos taken off the TV screen.