SoCal Science
August, 2012
Engineering Teams:
SoCal Science has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to design a rocket that can be used to demonstrate the
principles of physics to students. SoCal Science will use the winning design to produce a kit to be distributed,
free of charge, to any school interested in teaching rocketry. Their ultimate goal is to increase public
understanding of aeronautics and space flight, and encourage students to pursue a career in engineering
Each engineering team will need to prepare and submit a proposal that includes the following two topics as set
forth by SoCal Science

Rocket Research and Project Planning:
o Rational as to the physics principles that govern the flight of a rocket. What makes the rocket
fly? The following topics, at a minimum, must be addressed:
 Laws of Motion, Thrust, Velocity, Acceleration, Momentum, Stability, Center of Gravity,
Drag

Rocket Development and Design:
o Materials are to be simple. The body of the rocket must be a 2-liter bottle. A list of additional
materials and/or instructions, and how they are to be used must be included.
o How will the principles of physics be incorporated in the proposed design?
o How long will construction take?
o Construction costs? The cost of the kit must be kept to a minimum and the rocket must be
reusable.
Once your proposal is approved/accepted you will be required to build a working model, test your model, and
present your rocket along with all performance data to a panel of experts. The project deliverables:
 Engineering Team Contract
 Proposal Document
 Project Organization
o Work Breakdown Structure
 Timeline of specifics
o Responsibility Table
 Task specifics
 Rocket Development and Design
o Blueprint
 Rocket Construction
o Building instructions with rationale behind the features
o Rocket built according to your design specifications
 Rocket Operation/Performance
o Document test trials
 Maximum height
 Weight
 Advertisement Brochure
o Selling your rocket to schools
 Project Summary Document
o Reflection
 Why?
 What?
SoCal Science looks forward to reviewing your original proposals, evaluating the performance of your rocket,
and assessing all of the project deliverables produced by your team.