CanSat Launcher V2
From Dare
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== The design == | == The design == | ||
| + | [[Image:CSL2_canister.jpg]] | ||
== The launch == | == The launch == | ||
| + | [[Image:CSL2_lawndart.jpg|thumb|left|This is how ERIG found the CanSat Launcher V2]] | ||
This rocket was launched on a military base near Braunschweig. Weather conditions good this day. Visibility was very good, cloud base high. Wind speed was 5-10 kts, blowing from the north.Ignition went well, the rocket left the tower at a normal velocity (estimated: 30 m/s).The rocket reached its simulated altitude of 1.2 km and probably went even higher. The telemetry of the rocket did not work as well as it had to, because of interference with the CanSat, but the status of the rocket could be extracted from the acoustic reproduction of the transmitted data. At apogee, from the telemetry of the launcher it could be deduced that the igniters, that had to initiate the deployment of the parachute and the release of the CanSat, were activated. After this, both the telemetry of the launcher and that of the CanSat went silent. No parachute deployment was observed, and the rocket must have crashed (although this was not seen). Only the nose cone has been recovered, the remainder of the rocket is found months later. | This rocket was launched on a military base near Braunschweig. Weather conditions good this day. Visibility was very good, cloud base high. Wind speed was 5-10 kts, blowing from the north.Ignition went well, the rocket left the tower at a normal velocity (estimated: 30 m/s).The rocket reached its simulated altitude of 1.2 km and probably went even higher. The telemetry of the rocket did not work as well as it had to, because of interference with the CanSat, but the status of the rocket could be extracted from the acoustic reproduction of the transmitted data. At apogee, from the telemetry of the launcher it could be deduced that the igniters, that had to initiate the deployment of the parachute and the release of the CanSat, were activated. After this, both the telemetry of the launcher and that of the CanSat went silent. No parachute deployment was observed, and the rocket must have crashed (although this was not seen). Only the nose cone has been recovered, the remainder of the rocket is found months later. | ||
Revision as of 11:16, 17 January 2007
DARE was invited for the Technologie Education Conference 2006 by ESA in Braunschweich, Germany.. On STEC 2006 DARE planed to launch a CanSat Launcher. Unfortunately CanSat Launcher V1 crashed on the 28th of April and STEC 2006 began on the 9th of may. This let to heavy time pressure to redesign and build the next version of the CanSat Launcher.
The design
The launch
This rocket was launched on a military base near Braunschweig. Weather conditions good this day. Visibility was very good, cloud base high. Wind speed was 5-10 kts, blowing from the north.Ignition went well, the rocket left the tower at a normal velocity (estimated: 30 m/s).The rocket reached its simulated altitude of 1.2 km and probably went even higher. The telemetry of the rocket did not work as well as it had to, because of interference with the CanSat, but the status of the rocket could be extracted from the acoustic reproduction of the transmitted data. At apogee, from the telemetry of the launcher it could be deduced that the igniters, that had to initiate the deployment of the parachute and the release of the CanSat, were activated. After this, both the telemetry of the launcher and that of the CanSat went silent. No parachute deployment was observed, and the rocket must have crashed (although this was not seen). Only the nose cone has been recovered, the remainder of the rocket is found months later.
What went wrong
The possibility of the electronics not detecting lift-off was substantially reduced by using break wires (wires that break during lift-off hereby triggering the electronics) instead of a G-switch. Also a back-up electronics system was used (Micro dare-das V2.0). The rocket also reported its status to the ground station by a transmitter. The electric module performed perfectly during flight, until the rocket reached apogee. There, after triggering of the igniters, the launcher’s telemetry as well as that of the cansat stopped sending data. This is likely to be caused by the pyrotechnics blowing up the entire parachute and payload bay. How this could happen can be explained in the following way: The plunger in Prototype V1.0, which was formed by the payload bay, was not as airtight as the one used in V2.0. This caused the pressure in the second prototype to get higher than in the previous prototype, leading to the almost simultaneous ignition of both pyrotechnic charges, which was not as intended (the second charge was a backup charge). This combined ignition probably rendered the electronic components in the rocket and the cansat inoperative and is also likely to have shattered a part of the rocket. Another failure cause is that the plunger got stuck in the outer tube, forcing the pressure to find another way out. The rocket’s structure could not withstand the pressure loads and broke up, thereby damaging the electronics, parachute and cansat. It is further noted that the right amount of black powder was not determined, because of a lack of build and test time. Therefore, the charge in one igniter could have been too high. However, this failure is considered to be unlikely since there is a fair amount of experience present within DARE concerning black powder.
