Sunday, October 19, 2008

MiniSShot Motor Parts


I just finished some grain support rings for an upcoming firing of the Sugar Shot to Space ProtoSShot-M Mark II motor. This will be the second firing of what is essentially the full, dual-phase, flight weight motor for the MiniSShot vehicle. While the motor was pretty sophisticated from the beginning, at this point I would say it's one of the of the most sophisticated amateur designed solid propellant rocket motors I've ever heard of. Some highlights of the design include a three piece nozzle, thin walled fiberglass casing, extensive use of a variety of ablative materials (commercially available asbestos based material, cork, and epoxy/glass), and major components made from steel, aluminum, and titanium. For more information and official updates on the Sugar Shot to Space project visit http://sugarshot.org/

Monday, October 6, 2008

Cutting Metal

I cut some propellant segment spacer rings this weekend for the Sugar Shot to Space project. It's been a while and it felt good. We moved a while back and I just recently have had the time to build a workbench, shelves, and unpack some tools. My friend Peter and I wired some new outlets on the wall behind the bench. I'm pretty excited about the new shop. At the old place I had no space, poor lighting, and ran all the tools off of one outlet and an extension cord.