TARC 2013-2014
AIAA OC Rocketry
Team America Rocketry Challenge
(TARC)
2013-2014
September 2013 Kick-off Meeting
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TARC 2013-2014
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Video on line at http://aiaaocrocketry.org/AIAAOCRocketryDocs/TARC2013/TARC_TeamAmericaRocketryChallenge.wmv
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Team America Rocketry Challenge
“Team America Rocketry Challenge
(TARC) provides 7th through 12th
grade students a realistic experience
in designing a flying aerospace
vehicle that meets a specified set of
mission and performance
requirements. Students work
together in teams the same way
aerospace engineers do”
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What is TARC
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Team America Rocketry Challenge
International Rocketry Contest
Up to 1000 teams
7th through 12th graders
Compete for scholarships and
a trip to an Air Show in Europe
Each year a challenge is issued
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Maximum weight
Certain altitude
Duration of flight
Payload
Your team designs, builds, and flies your design to meet the
challenge
Top 100 teams compete in finals
Top 20 teams go on to compete in NASA Student Launch Initiative
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2013 – 2014 Challenge
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Attain an altitude of exactly 825 ft
Flight duration must be 48 – 50 seconds
Must carry a payload of two raw hen’s
eggs & return undamaged
• Eggs can be flown in any orientation
(vertical/horizontal)
• Each egg must weigh 57 – 63 grams
Rocket must stay tethered together
Recovery of the rocket must be two
parachutes of equal size
Rocket may be any size but must weigh
less than 650
Powered by “F” or lower motor(s) listed
in approved motors
Team members (not adults) do the work
There are more rules – see the Team
Handbook – the final authority
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2013 – 2014 Scoring
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Similar to golf – the lower the score the
better
Target altitude is 825 ft
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Target time window is 48 to 50 seconds from
liftoff until the rocket touches down (or can
no longer be seen)
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Each foot your altitude is different costs 1 point
Accuracy is down to 1 foot measured by an onboard altimeter
In the window costs 0 points
Each second your time is different costs 4
points
Time is measured to .01 seconds by observers
on the ground
Up to three Qualification Flights must be
made between 9/2/2013 and 3/31/2014 –
you MUST make two
Final score is the average of the two best scores
Scores must be received by at the offices of AIA by 3/31/2014
One point will be deducted for teams that submit at least one score before
3/2/2014 (that is good – lower scores are better)
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Previous TARC Years
YEAR
Top
100
AIAA
Result
2008
750ft, 45 sec, 1500g, 2eggs, “G”
motors, any recovery
22.20
22.28
3rd Alternate
2009
750ft, 45 sec, 1500g, 1 egg on
side, “G” motors, any recovery
17.60
23.60
No Joy
2010
825 ft, 40-45 sec, 1000g, 1 egg,
“F” motors, streamer
29.60
4.00
8th National
-> SLI
2011
750ft, 40-45 sec, 1000g, 1 egg,
“G” motors, 15” parachute
15.87
31.86
Too Busy
with SLI
2012
800ft, 43-47 sec, 650g, 1egg,
“F” motors, parachute
13.20
21.13
Too Busy
with SLI
2013
750ft, 48-50 sec, 650g, 1 egg on 16.12
side, “F” motors, 15” parachute
4&9
No Joy at
Nationals
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Skill: Teamwork
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Communications…
I know that you believe you understand what you
think I said,
but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is
not what I meant
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Planning
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How are you going to do this?
• Assemble a team
• Read and understand the rules in the
handbook
• Read and understand the NAR Safety Rules
• Meet often as a team to discuss and execute
• Ask yourselves: What do we need to know?
• Make a plan including timetable and budget
• Research the topics from what we need to
know
• Design your rocket using a CAD program
• Simulate your rocket’s flight & select your
approved motor
• Fine tune the design and the motor selection
• Order parts and motors
• Build your rocket
• Test Fly your rocket and compare against
simulation
• Modify your design and test fly again
(iterative)
• Declare qualification flights and fly your rocket
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NAR Safety Code Highlights
• Use only lightweight, non metal parts for the nose,
body, and fins
• Use only certified and approved commercially
made motors
• Use an electrical launch system with safety
interlock for the ignition switch
•Use a launch rod, tower or rail pointed to within 30
degrees of vertical
• Don’t launch at targets, into clouds, or near
airplanes
• Assure adequate space (“F” motors require a
minimum of 1000 ft across launch site
• You must use a recovery system (parachute(s) or
streamer
• Read the full Model Rocket Safety Code in the
Handbook
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Assemble a team
• Teams must be 3 – 10
members
• All members must be in 7th
through 12th grades
•You need a lot of different
skills – not just “rocket
scientists”
• Members that like to
lead and manage a team
• Technical members to
help design
• Mechanically oriented
members to help build
• Members familiar with
the computer
• Members that like to
track budgets and
fundraise
• One team member must be
the Program Manager
•Each team member must make a significant
contribution to the design, building and/or
launching
• Team members can be added or dropped
until the first qualification flight
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Early Team Tasks
• Identify a project manager to be
responsible for the team
• Each team member should read and
understand the contest and safety rules
in the Handbook
• Identify what you need to know and
needed areas of expertise
• Establish a schedule with dates and
stick to it
• Estimate your costs and your
fundraising needs and methods
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Schedule and Budget
•Schedule: Use Microsoft
Office “Excel” or Open Office
“Calc” to show tasks and
time – then stick to your
schedule!
Budget: Use the same tool to get an
estimate of what you will spend on this
project – then you know how much
money you will need to raise
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Research areas of expertise
• You might want to have each member
research a different area and report to the
team to share their knowledge
• Areas of expertise might include
• Payload (protect the eggs)
• Recovery (deliver eggs from altitude)
• Airframe design, fins, nose cone
• Rocksim CAD Design
• Motors and igniters
• Effects of weather on the rocket
• Collect and analyze launch data
• Construction and finish
• Budget and fundraising
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Technology leads share research
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Discuss design concepts
Use the research from team
technology leads to begin
your design
You might want one to start
out with one design, or
want to test concepts with
several designs
You might want one joint
design, or one from each of
several team members
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Evaluate potential designs
Make use of your technology experts
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Long or short body
Shape of nose cone
Shape of fins
Placement of egg payload
Protection of egg payload
Shape of parachute
Black Powder or APCP motor
Materials to use
• The list goes on and on
• The team needs to
make educated decisions
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Determine how to protect your payload
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Test your Payload
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Design and Simulate with Rocksim
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RockSim – Design & Motor Selection
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RockSim - Simulation
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Order and receive parts and motors
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Build your design(s)
Construction is as important as design for consistency of flights
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Where can you launch?
• Very restrictive - NOT in your back yard, park, or school yard
• State of California requires the landowners permission, the local fire
authority’s permission, and often a permit ($300 - $1,000 per day)
• Rockets above 500g and with larger motors have more restrictions in
California
• Best to launch at organized launches
(Distances are from the city of Orange)
• R.O.C. in Lucerne Dry Lake past Apple
Valley (about 100 miles)
• D.A.R.T. at Fiesta Island near San
Diego (about 90 miles)
• S.C.R.A. at Santa Fe Dam Recreation
Area (about 35 miles) – limit is 500g
rockets and “C” motors in spring
• There are more sites even further
away – we will use those if needed
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Test and Tune Your Design
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The Qualification Flight
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The Qualification Flights are your
ticket to the finals
You can make up to 3, your final
score is the average of the best 2
There is no single qualification
event – you can make a
qualification flight at any time
there is an independent senior
NAR member present and an adult
to observe at a launch
You declare your Qualification
Flight BEFORE the launch
The NAR observer will inspect your
rocket before flight
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For safety – should it be stable and is it
built well?
For rule compliance – two eggs, motor
size, correct altimeter, correct
parachutes
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The Qualification Flight Cont’d
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The NAR observer will
watch and time your flight
The NAR observer will
inspect your rocket after
flight
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The observer will record your
altitude and times
The observer will inspect your
eggs for damage
The observer will inspect your
rocket for serious damage – it
must be able to fly again
Send your scores in to
TARC/AIA to be received
by 11:59PM EST on
3/31/2014
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Qualify!
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Video on line at http://aiaaocrocketry.org/AIAAOCRocketryDocs/TARC2013/ASAT_TARC2010-W-Beeps.wmv
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Attend Finals near Washington D.C.
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Top 20 teams invited to SLI
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NASA Student Launch Initiative
program by invitation only
Learning opportunity working with
NASA including:
Design, construction, scheduling,
purchasing, finance, logistics, press,
educational engagement, web site
development, technical documentation,
scientific payload design, testing for a
reusable lanch vehiclescientific payload
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Organized similar to NASA project life
cycle
Write Proposal, Preliminary, Critical,
and Flight Readiness Reviews and
present via WebEx to engineers at
Marshall Space Flight Center, Tour
Marshall Space Flight Center, Exhibit at
Rocket Fair, Launch rocket in
Huntsville, Alabama
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How can AIAA OC Section help?
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Teams must be attached to a non-profit organization with a
youth program such as AIAA, a school, scout troop, 4H
Each organization can have up to 5 teams of 3 to 10
members each
If your school, 4H, scout troop or other youth program will
not let you form a team attached to them, AIAA can have 5
teams or help find other professional organizations to help
For any team
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We will provide mentoring as needed
We will provide a place to meet with PCs with Rocksim
We will provide construction materials (glue, fin jigs etc.)
We will have many launch outings to test and fine-tune
We will help you put together a field box with essential tools and
support materials
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Budget
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Teams are responsible for their own expenses
• Materials to build one rocket: $25 - $50 (2 or more per design)
• Motors to launch: $6 - $19 each (10 – 30 launches total)
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Small “E” Black Powder Single Use: $6.00
Estes or Aerotech APCP “E” Single Use: $15 - $18
Estes or Aerotech APCP “F” Single Use: $18
Aerotech or Cesaroni APCP “E” Reloads: $9 - $15 + One Casing
Aerotech or Cesaroni APCP “F” Reloads: $15 - $19 + One Casing
• Transportation to the launches (gas and vehicle)
• WHEN you make the finals
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Air Fare to Washington DC - $400/person
Hotel ($89/room/night – share rooms)
Meals ($5-$10/meal)
Fundraising
Sales: Garage, Sees Candy, Mary
Kaye Cosmetics
Corporate Sponsors: Industry,
Aerospace, Local Businesses
Do chores, beg parents to help (it’s
your responsibility to raise money, not
theirs)
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2013
Schedule
• 9/2 – 12/31: Sign up
• September – AIAA OC Section TARC 2013 kick-off
• Sept – Dec: Design, build, and test – the earlier the better
2014
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Jan – 3/31: Refine design and continue to test
3/2 – Should have completed first qualification flight
3/31 – Must have completed all qualification flights
3/31 – Qualification flight forms RECEIVED at AIA
4/4 – top 100 teams announced
5/10 – Final Fly-offs near Washington DC
More Information
http://rocketcontest.org
http://AIAAOCRocketry.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NARTARC
http://www.nar.org
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How to proceed from here
Team completes the “TARC 2014
Application Packet”
Each team member
completes the
“Parent/Guardian
Consent & Release
Form”
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A Few General Tips
• New teams might want to build and fly 2.6” rocket kit as a group, or have each
member build and fly a smaller kit to get some experience before designing.
• Start as soon as possible with your design – time passes very fast and school
must come first.
• Select your motor early from RockSim and validate with test flights
• Buy all the motors you need at one time with the same lot number
• There can be a long lead time on motors starting December as 1000 teams buy
20 similar motors each from just a few manufacturers
• Prepare for bad weather and cancelled launches January through March
Our Favorite Launch Site – Lucerne Dry Lake – isn’t always Dry
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Thank you
Questions?
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