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Cardinal is the working name for NCSSM Rocketry's 23-24 rocket. We've been hard at work so far this year, and we plan to launch in March.
NCSSM ARC, High Power, Safety, and Media Captains
The year is starting strong with high power captains me (center left) and David (center right) leading the high power team into the new rocketry season.
During September I worked on training new juniors on the team with basic knowledge for rocketry.
Team leads authored a grant request to the school for funding this year. I was principal author of technical sections.
I worked with a team of juniors teaching them the skills to use OpenRocket to design this years rocket, and hopefully enable them to design a rocket by themselves in the future.
We have made great progress so far this year, and below are a few snapshots of our work so far. We are planning on launching in March, so we are looking to speed up our timeline slightly. Overall, everything is really starting to come together for the rocket.
Marking Tubes for Cuts
Inspecting Tubes
Finished Laminated Fin
Process of Laminating Fins
Shown here is a relatively simple piece which just slides into the joint where the body diameter changes to improve aerodynamics.
Shown here is the balsa core and leading/trailing edges. These are glued and then laminated with fiberglass and carbon fiber as above.
Current State / Plans
As we approach March and our prospective launch dates, the clock is ticking down for the build process. As such, we are working towards the final stages of building the airframe, and we are ratcheting up to full speed on the payload process.