2008 Woodie Awards
Students to launch next year at NASA facility
Shawn Gage
Issue date: 11/19/08 Section: News
Rockets powered by laughing gas are no joking matter to UCF students who are less than a year away from the first launch.
Nitrous oxide, more commonly known as laughing gas, will help the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space at UCF propel two rockets into the upper atmosphere.
The students expect the rockets, named Daedalus III and IV, to launch at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia next year, with the first during the summer and the second in December.
According to Keith Koehler, part of the public affairs and educational outreach at Wallops Flight Facility, the facility launches about 20 rockets a year.
"We try to work with groups on their rockets," Koehler said. "We look at it as an educational process and the things with the best chance of success we work with."
Executive Director of Project Daedalus and Vice President of SEDS Michael P. Green said the goals for the Daedalus III and IV are to reach an altitude of 207,000 feet and 350,000 feet, respectively.
Project Daedalus is one of two remaining student initiatives in Florida to launch a sounding rocket. Sounding rockets are used in sub-orbital research to gather data from the upper atmosphere.
Last year, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach became the first undergraduate group to successfully launch a sounding rocket.
Both the UCF and Embry-Riddle programs are named after Greek mythological characters. Embry-Riddle's sounding rocket program is called Icarus.
"Icarus fell from the clouds burning in flames and Daedalus is the one who survived," said Jeremy Lawrence, project leader for Project Daedalus. "They announced their project when our project was being formed, so they thought it was fitting that we kind of poke fun at their rocket."
Lawrence is responsible for overseeing the construction of the vehicle as well as the team designs.
When the Icarus launched last year, it lacked a recovery system, which the UCF team has planned into their designs.
Nitrous oxide, more commonly known as laughing gas, will help the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space at UCF propel two rockets into the upper atmosphere.
The students expect the rockets, named Daedalus III and IV, to launch at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia next year, with the first during the summer and the second in December.
According to Keith Koehler, part of the public affairs and educational outreach at Wallops Flight Facility, the facility launches about 20 rockets a year.
"We try to work with groups on their rockets," Koehler said. "We look at it as an educational process and the things with the best chance of success we work with."
Executive Director of Project Daedalus and Vice President of SEDS Michael P. Green said the goals for the Daedalus III and IV are to reach an altitude of 207,000 feet and 350,000 feet, respectively.
Project Daedalus is one of two remaining student initiatives in Florida to launch a sounding rocket. Sounding rockets are used in sub-orbital research to gather data from the upper atmosphere.
Last year, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach became the first undergraduate group to successfully launch a sounding rocket.
Both the UCF and Embry-Riddle programs are named after Greek mythological characters. Embry-Riddle's sounding rocket program is called Icarus.
"Icarus fell from the clouds burning in flames and Daedalus is the one who survived," said Jeremy Lawrence, project leader for Project Daedalus. "They announced their project when our project was being formed, so they thought it was fitting that we kind of poke fun at their rocket."
Lawrence is responsible for overseeing the construction of the vehicle as well as the team designs.
When the Icarus launched last year, it lacked a recovery system, which the UCF team has planned into their designs.
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Michael P. Green
posted 1/06/09 @ 1:42 AM EST
For more information, please visit http://www.projectdaedalus.com
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