A multi-staged vehicle with peak sensor

The following is a report written in February of 1985 by RRS members George Dosa and Frank Miuccio. The report details a three-stage rocket with several illustrations. For the sake of preservation, this report is reproduced in this article.

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A MULTI-STAGED VEHICLE WITH PEAK SENSOR
by Frank Miuccio and George Dosa

The purpose of this report is to document the building and testing of a three stage vehicle with a peak sensing device. Short betas were chosen for the 1st and 2nd stage and a short Mark Series for the 3rd stage. The peak sensor will be a photocell intended to detect the change from sky to ground and activate a parachute system. The 2nd and 3rd stage will be fired using inertia switches and a unique 3rd stage interlock system. A minor test will be of a passive sound emitter on the 2nd stage.

Also, (in this project) going to see if white, black or stainless is the best color to see (when spotting the rocket).

NOTE:
The report has sketches of the individual stages of the three-stage rocket and their interconnections.

first stage, shortened RRS standard beta, micrograin

2nd stage – shortened standard beta, micrograin rocket

3rd stage – Mark series rocket

556 timer chip, schematic

Sketch of the 3-stage rocket design

Second to third stage coupler design – sketch

Photo of the 3-stage rocket design

[more images and details to come, work in progress]

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For questions, contact the author, Frank Miuccio.
vicepresident@rrs.org

or the RRS secretary
secretary@rrs.org

RRS presents at Mars City PowerLab 2017

Mars City Foundation has introduced the Power Lab for this year, 2017, to help the Mars generation develop the skills and build the tools and technology necessary for this important time and mission.

Starting August 1st, the Power Lab is a two week long “science retreat” where students will have the opportunity to explore ideas in a workshop with experts from NASA and with other technical organizations giving cross-disciplinary expertise for PowerLab attendees to begin tangibly building the technology and tools to build mankind’s future life on Mars.

Mars City Foundation

Mars City Design

RRS vice president, Frank Miuccio presented on the third day of the workshop at the University of Southern California (USC) with a presentation on the “Past, Present and Future of the RRS”. The RRS was glad to share some of our history and present endeavors and aspirations for our society.

PowerLab attendees inspect an RRS standard alpha rocket

Frank also showed the video of George Garboden’s altitude record setting amateur rocket launch back in November 23, 1996 at Black Rock, Nevada.  

RRS presents to the PowerLab attendees

Frank closed the presentation with an update on the SuperDosa project to reclaim the amateur altitude record for the RRS. The students had many questions and was interested in the many things that the RRS was doing.

The RRS is glad to continue our support of the Mars City Foundation and we hope to be present for other Mars City events in the future. The RRS thanks Vera Mulyani for inviting the society to be a part of the PowerLab event.

For any questions regarding the RRS, please contact Frank Miuccio:
vicepresident@rrs.org

For questions regarding Mars City PowerLab, visit the Mars City Foundation website:
Mars City Foundation

 

Frank met with George James at JPL

RRS vice president, Frank Miuccio with RRS founder, George James

RRS founder George James setup a great meeting for RRS vice president, Frank Miuccio, with Paula from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s K-12 Educator Resource Center. The meeting lasted two hours and was very productive. The RRS received great posters, pictures and other materials to use during RRS alpha rocket build classes.

Paula also shared numerous web links to educational documentation that includes activities to use during our classes.

It was a great to catch up with George James and start building a great relationship between the RRS and the JPL K-12 Educator Resource Center. The RRS sincerely thanks George for connecting the society with JPL. We hope to see both groups collaborating more in the future.

For more information on this, contact Frank Miuccio
vicepresident@rrs.org

For information on build events, contact the RRS events coordinator
events@rrs.org

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