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In our design we needed to be aware of the mass and space that smoke flare would take up. This is important as the extra weight affects the center of gravity along with the fin flutter. Further details of the smoke flare can be found under recovery.
Post-mortem
In ProgressLooking back, one of our biggest issues was most likely the connection between the polycarb tube and the Blue Tube. Upon analysis after the launch, it was concluded that this maybe the biggest place where we went wrong. This connection maybe what lead to the failure of the rocket. We have discussed that in future years we need to ensure our builds need to be further inspected. Producing a rocket that has parts that are just “okay” is not enough. We need to ensure that our rocket is to the highest factor as we can, to ensure the best results.
Almost all of the rocket was recovered, which in some ways, made it easy to try and analyze what went wrong. Having both the rocket pieces and videos helped this process immensely. We have an intact Payload, had been able to see where/when the parachute had deployed, along with the structural elements of the rocket. As mentioned, we had not been fortunate to get any real data from the avionics bay, as the avionics only had the tracking system working and it landed right next to the pad.
We truly need to have a closer inspection of the rocket before launching. Taking into consideration different components of the rocket and worse case scenarios to have the highest level of safety and produce an overall better rocket.
Recovery
Recovery Requirements
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