Final Blog Post

Our first rocket was just a normal 2 liter bottle without any modifications added to it. As we learned from our reference website and other groups we were able to decide upon what types of modifications we would add to our second rocket. On our second launch we added a paper nose to the top of our rocket as well three large fins, which we glued to the side of the bottle. This design had little success but on our third launch we were required to add a parachute to our rockets. When we designed our rocket for the third launch we scrapped the fins and instead just added the paper nose cone with a plastic bag in it that would act as a parachute. The parachute was attached to the bottle with plastic strips we made out of the plastic bags that acted as the rigging for our parachute. On the fourth launch we added six small fins to our rocket along with a larger nose cone that had the same type of plastic bag we used in launch 3 but instead of using the plastic strips for our rigging we used yarn. As we thought we had perfected our design we added more length to our rocket by adding half of another 2 liter bottle on top. This rocket also used six small fins, a nose cone, a parachute, and once again we changed our rigging from yarn to regular string. This design was very promising for success but unfortunately it fell very short from our expectations. In the future we need to make sure that we use a clean bottle because when we glued the fins to our rocket they fell off during the launch.

Fifth Launch

Our fifth launch was an epic fail. The weather didn't cooperate and we had to use a second hand bottle that was warped. This rocket however was longer in length compared to our previous rockets. I was almost certain our rocket was gonna trump the competition because our design was good. When we went to launch our rocket the wind kept blowing our nose cone off to the side and we were never able to get off a good launch. The string that attached our nose cone to the rocket was too short so our parachute was unable to deploy because the nose cone was trapping it (if that makes sense). We also believe or at least I believe that the soapy detergent we used today made our rocket further more suck. All in all today was horrible and as the saying goes "when in doubt, no go out"!!! For all the people who got the 10 seconds today we hope you get sick from being in the rain today. Peace. One Love.

Fouth Launch

For our fourth launch our group made some modifications to our rocket. We added six small fins at the bottom to give our rocket stability. We used the bottom of another water bottle with a cone duck tapped to the top of that to hold the parachute in. On the launch day the weather was really bad. Not only was it rainy but it was also extremely windy. Our rocket shot up into the sky like a bullet to the point where we couldn't see it but the parachute did not deploy and our rocket landed on the roof of the auditorium after 7 seconds. We will have to work on getting the parachute to be useful next time.

Third Launch

Lift Off

Setting Up Launch

Successful Parachute

Our launch today was very successful even though we are poor boarders with absolutely no resources to use. With little resources we still managed to have a successful parachute deployment that allowed us to exceed the 3 second limit. Our longest launch time was 7.14 seconds. We may need to try and add fins that may hopefully allow our rocket to gain stability. Our rocket may need some modifications to the parachute because it deployed a little later than we wanted it too. Overall it was another successful launch day despite being down one member. Fight the disease Leilani. Fight hard, living long and prosper.

Second Launch

My group’s second launch went very well. Although we had added nothing to the bottle it still flew extremely high. One thing that I noticed about the bottle right after launching was that it was spinning uncontroably. I believe that the water bottle was still very unbalanced even though we added a point and flaps for aerodynamics. I also noticed that the bottle was in the air a lot shorter than our first launch. This is most likely due to the fact that our bottle was too heavy and unbalanced or that we added too much water before the launch. Perhaps if we make a lighter more balanced design, our next launch will be more successful.