Project 22 is a 18.2 ft. tall rocket holding an L-size motor, and was built for the 2019-2020 NASA Student Launch Competition. Unfortunately the competition was cancelled due to Covid-19, so it was never flown in competition. The rocket was flown separately to 10,500 ft.
The reasoning behind the name was a nod to the veteran’s organization called “The 22 Project.” Their name comes from the fact that “In 2012, the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services Suicide Prevention Program determined that 22 veterans commit suicide each day in our country.” An army veteran was present on the team this year, and the name of the rocket was to raise awareness of the problems of veteran suicide.
Aerostructure
The aerostructure subteam designed, manufactured, and built all components for project 22, the most notable being the fin can. The fin can is equipped with a stability ballast, centering rings for the motor, and 3D printed pieces between each of the fins. Aerostructure is also responsible for running simulations of the rocket on the flight simulation software, OpenRocket.
Avionics
Project 22 featured Avionics’ first Radio Telemetry System (RTS) in the avionics bay. The subteam worked hard to design, wire, and code their own RTS and were rewarded by an exciting and successful first RTS flight!
Payload
This year, the payload “will travel to one of five sample sites, collect and store at least 10 milliliters of simulated ice and then travel at least 10 feet away from the site.” The Akronauts achieved this by designing and building a rover with a scooper on the front. The scooper can grab the simulated ice sample and store it until it travels to its destination. The beauty of this design is no matter what orientation the rocket lands, it will still be able to collect a sample, since the mechanics of the payload are symmetrical on each orientation.
Propulsion
A commercial L-size motor was used in this rocket. Propulsion didn’t design anything due to the nature of the competition, but was working on their first Student Researched and Designed propellant called “Angry Listerine” during this time. The propellant ended up flying on our future Emergence Series rockets.
Recovery
Project 22’s parachutes featured a hemispherical for drogue and toroidal for main. Project 22 had a dual deployment system with black powder ejecting both of them out of their respective chambers.