The heck is the Space Race? Isn't that already over?
The Space Race program is an annual internal rocketry competition held by Launch Initiative, meant to teach the fundamentals of high power rocketry in an exciting and competitive environment. While its name is inspired by the famous Cold War era feud, we promise that our Space Race contains little to no mutually assured destruction.
How does this work?
Every Fall semester, all interested first year Launch members are divided into two teams. These teams will spend the entire year designing, simulating, manufacturing, and finally launching, their own L2 class high power rocket. As the year progresses, the teams will be judged and awarded points based on a variety of criteria, including best design, most creative, and best performance. The final test will be the launch of the two rockets. On launch day, each rocket will be launched back to back, and the rocket with the most successful launch (based on height achieved, accuracy, teamwork, etc) will be awarded points. The team who performs the best overall will win, and each member will be awarded a prize! The program teaches new members the fundamentals of high power rocketry, and touches everything from nose cone geometry to trajectory simulations. By the end of the year, new members will be ready to move on to more advanced teams on Launch, like IREC, Propulsion, and Avionics.
What does the schedule look like?
In general, Fall semester is dedicated entirely to design and simulation of the rocket. The members will present their design twice to more seasoned Launch members, and iterate on the design until it is perfected. At the end of fall semester, a design freeze is put in place, which means members are not allowed to make any more major design changes to the rocket. During winter break, all the necessary parts for the rockets are ordered, and once Spring semester rolls around, things really start to take off. Spring semester is the manufacturing and construction phase of Space Race. Here, each team will take they designs they've made and, using the materials purchased construct their rocket. Teams are encouraged to draw on the rocketry experience of more senior Launch members during this phase, since rocketry construction can be a difficult and nuanced process. Once the rockets are assembled and painted, they are ready to launch! See the Space Race calendar for more specific dates.
Where do we get the money?
Since RIT Launch Initiative is an entirely sponsorship and community funded club, to fund the Space Race, each team must crowdfund in order to pay for materials. If this sounds daunting, don't worry, the Space Race leads will be happy to walk you through the entire process. Crowdfunding will require you to create some sort of promotion deliverable to present. Historically, we've done promotional videos, but whatever your team decides to do is fine, so long as it gets the word out!
Where do I start?