Ferris II

The National Association of Rocketry is an organization that oversees and regulates amateur rocketry. I’m attempting my Level 1 certification, which would allow me to use H and I class motors. My first flight, shown below, reached 1246 feet using an H143 motor. Unfortunately the shock cord was singed by the ejection charge so it split during separation. The parachute safely guided the payload tube to a soft landing, while the body tube and fins had a much more dramatic descent. Miraculously upon recovery they displayed no damage. I’ll be making a second attempt in the summer of 2025 using a kevlar cord instead of a nylon cord.

Ferris I

At university, I am a member of our rocketry team. During my first semester with the team, I joined the HPR division, which builds and launches level 1 high powered rockets. That semester we used LOC IV kits from Apogee Rockets and G class motors. Working in groups of three, we each assembled the rocket and then simulated the launch using OpenRocket in order to estimate the timing of parachute deployment. We launched the rockets in February of 2024 and captured the onboard launch videos with a small action camera.