Worlds Longest Egg Toss: Boilermakers Launch Sputnik Seven

Aeronautical Engineering students at Purdue University were tasked with designing, assembling, and launching a rocket – with an egg inside! Mission success rides on the rocket achieving an altitude of exactly 1,000 ft. above ground level, deploying a parachute and hopefully landing with an intact egg.  Will the egg survive?

The project was codenamed Sputnik Seven, and the rocket was designed using RockSIM Software, which allowed them to select motor configurations to account for speed and height goals.  The fuselage was made out of fiberglass by sandwiching 2 layers of prepreg fiberglass between a PBHT-60 mold and an inflatable bladder filled with air. All components were then placed in an autoclave for curing.

 

With the rocket completed, it was time to see if the egg would live.  The rocket soared into the sky, the parachute deployed and the rocket sailed back to Earth. The egg was recovered – intact! Mission Success!

Coastal Enterprises donates material to student teams at Universities throughout the United States for many interesting projects. Our material has been used to create anything from human powered vehicles to supermileage cars, or in the case of Purdue University, designing a rocket.

Watch video of the rocket in flight!

Rockets and Eggs – 1000 Feet in the air

We received a call from Luke DeLisio, an Aeronautical Engineering student at Purdue University, inquiring about the possibility of a Precision Board Plus donation for a very interesting project they were undertaking.

Their mission: To design, assemble and successfully launch a rocket – with an egg inside. Mission success rides on the rocket achieving an altitude of exactly 1,000 ft. AGL, dropping to the ground in minimal time, and deploying a parachute with an intact egg. The project has been codenamed Sputnik Seven.

PBHT-60 was used as a mold for the rocket fuselage.

They started out with a design using RockSIM Software, selecting motor configurations to account for speed and height goals.

 

They then selected which materials they were going to use. The rocket was built entirely from scratch, consisting of a carbon fiber tube, carbon fiber nose cone, and carbon/honeycomb fins. It was assembled using a 2-part epoxy due to its strength and ease of application.

Here are several students applying a liquid mold release to Precision Board Plus PBHT-60 for the rocket fuselage mold.

 

Preparing the fuel bladder:

 

The fuselage was constructed by sandwiching 2 layers of prepreg fiberglass between a PBHT-60 mold and an inflatable bladder filled with air. All components were then placed in an autoclave for curing.

Launch time….will the egg survive?!??

The return to earth:

The egg was successfully recovered intact. Mission Success!

Thank you to Luke and all the students who participated in this project for sharing it with us!