The Vanderbilt Aerospace Club braved harsh winter weather Feb. 13 to conduct its first full-scale rocket launch with a mock-up payload at a launching grounds in Elizabethtown, Ky.
The trials in Kentucky are in preparation for the NASA University Student Launch Initiative (USLI) Competition near Huntsville, Ala., in April.
With a L610 motor, the rocket reached an impressive 5,600 feet, about three hundred feet above the target mile. Overall, the team was satisfied with the vehicle performance and is now entering an intense phase of payload design.
The Vanderbilt payload will use the rocket flight to examine waste heat recovery in aerospace engines using thermoelectric generators.
The Vanderbilt Aerospace Club is coached by mechanical engineering Professor A.V. Anilkumar. Robin Midgett serves as the safety officer.
Details about Aerospace Club activities and its members can be found here .
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