Our Crowdfunding Groups
Who?
The Rocketeers of Southern Illinois (ROSI) is a high power rocketry team at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. We started this team last year with eight members, none of which had experience with rockets. Since then we have built and launched two high power rockets, designed a formula for rocket motors, and placed second in the 2018 Argonia Cup. This year we increased our membership to 24 rocketeers, representing seven different majors at every grade level. For the 2018-2019 school year, we will be competing in the Argonia Cup, mixing our own rocket fuel, designing an autonomous delivery vehicle to be ejected from our rocket, as well as registering an underclassman as a level two member of the Tripoli Rocketry Association.
Check out our website!
What?
The Argonia Cup is hosted through the Tripoli Rocketry Association about an hour south of Wichita, Kansas. The competition requires reaching an altitude of 8,000 feet and returning a golf ball as close to a predetermined location as possible. We plan on building a five inch diameter nine foot tall rocket powered by L class motor (impulse of 5108 Ns) to carry our payload. We spent fall semester prototyping an autonomous quadcopter but ran into weight and control issues. Recently, Mayan Robotics, one of the leading autopilot manufactures for commercial and private drones reached out to us as a sponsor and will be guiding our team through the process of building a fully autonomous descent vehicle. All of our launches and launch activities are fully insured through the TRA in the event that our descent vehicle descends faster than expected.
The Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) is a national rocketry organization that provides insurance coverage to its members. The Argonia Cup requires at least one member of the team to maintain a level two membership in one of two national organizations, the other being the National Association of Rocketry (NAR). The reason we are registering with TRA as opposed to NAR is that NAR does not provide coverage to rocket motors made by individuals. In order to compete in high level competitions in future years, we will need to develop and mix our own motors, thus requiring TRA certification.
To register as a level one member, the underclassman will be building a 2.2" diameter rocket that will be flown on an I class motor. For level two membership, he will use the same rocket body and fly it with a J class motor (about 2 times more powerful than an I motor). Once both rockets are successfully recovered in good condition, a test that covers the fundamentals of safe rocketry must be passed. With a level two underclassman, our team will be able to launch up to an L class motor at designated launch sites for years to come.
When?
We plan on launching both certification flights on January 27 in Princeton, Illinois and will post videos of these launches to our website. The Argonia Cup is on March 30th and 31st, 2019.
How will your money be spent?
In order to accomplish our goals for this school year, we will need to build two rockets, purchase the materials necessary for mixing our own rocket fuel, and construct our descent vehicle. The first rocket will be used to register with TRA and the second rocket will be brought to the Argonia Cup. Inside each rocket will be a motor, two independent avionics systems to control parachute deployment and record altitude, a parachute, an on-board camera, and our drone. These costs add up very quickly, even more so as we begin the spring semester. We appreciate any gift and thank you in advance for your generosity.
For reaching the Troposphere, will send you an embroidered patch with the team logo on it. Thank you for your help!
Once you pass the Stratosphere you will receive the Troposphere rewards and we will list you as a Rocket Booster on our website.
Welcome to the Mesosphere! We will send you an embroidered polo with our logo in a size of your choice and you will receive everything from the Stratosphere. Thank you!
As a reward for flying as high as the International Space Station, the Mesosphere level is yours. In addition, we will put your name or company logo on the front page of our website.
At this height, you have escaped Earth's gravity! In return, we will put your name or company logo on the back of our team shirts and you will receive the previous tiers.
Your generosity is out of this world! Send us a sticker with your logo and will will put it on our Argonia Cup rocket and you will receive all previous perks.
