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September 26, 2003
The SDSU team learned about hard starts the hard way. see
www.sdsurocket.org and click on "hard starts"
This type of test helps create interest for a program that
teaches students about real rocketry, and spectacular failures
(like the one the SDSU students experienced) are excellent
learning tools.
The CSULB/Garvey group achieved a small but significant advancement
in the state of the art. They were the first to fly an aerospike
powered rocket.
The engine had a leak around the nozzle, which caused the
steel to melt and the thrust to push the vehicle over.
They knew it was risky, but they also knew that a full set
of static fire tests would be expensive and time consuming.
Consider each test consumes a tank of LOX and Helium ignitors,
ablative liners, fuel, all the hardware and electronics that
may be lost in the event of an explosion etc. On average the
cost is going to be a few thousand dollars at least. Better
than the millions that it would cost the big guys, but still
not cheap.
Keeping student interest and excitement up is not compatible
with exhaustive testing.
NASA has been talking about workforce development for a long
time and Garvey has been doing it.
Steve
Flometrics
www.rocketfuelpump.com
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