Rocket payload contest for NDSU students
North Dakota students have an opportunity to fly high.
The North Dakota Student Rocket Initiative Project (ND STRIPE) is soliciting proposals for North Dakota students to participate in a rocket payload contest.
Student teams are expected to develop original scientific payload experiments or designs that are to be flown on a high-powered rocket. Eight winning proposals across North Dakota schools will be chosen to actively engage in building a high powered rocket, building a component of their proposed payload and then compete in a rocket fly-off in April 2008. Experts in the rocketry field will judge the contest.
“This project is the first educational rocket in North Dakota and designed to give students an educational experience outside the room,” said Tim Young, associate professor of physics at the UND and principal investigator for ND STRIPE. “This project has all the ingredients for engagement. It is exciting, it is new and it involves teams working together.”
Young said they are getting faculty involved as mentors for student payload projects. “The aerospace industry will continue to need new ideas and an experienced workforce. Having students work on aspects of rocketry will prepare them for future jobs and ideas,” Young said. “This is a creative endeavor and is very inspiring for students and faculty alike.”
The ND STRIPE, which is a NASA space grant consortium effort, is a two-component program. The first component is building a large reusable launch vehicle to launch experimental student projects to high altitudes. The Large Rocket Vehicle is designed, fabricated and operated by about 30 UND and NDSU students. The rocket was designed to be modular to accommodate several launch configurations. The second component is a contest where students compete for a chance to fly their experiment in the Large Rocket Vehicle.
To build local awareness of the project, a rocket was launched Monday, Oct. 1, at a location five miles west of Harwood, N.D. The 60-pound 12-foot rocket reached an altitude of about 3,000 feet.
Proposals for the student rocket payload concept can be submitted anytime until Nov. 2. Proposals will be judged and those selected will build a proof-of-concept rocket. The student will fly their proof-of-concept rocket in the spring of 2008.
This project will continue every year depending on continued funding. Contest details and prizes can be found at www.rocket.und.edu.