Who Are We?
The Rocket Girls are the NASA USLI team for the University of Alabama. The Rocket Girls are committed to meeting the USLI project timeline and documentation expectations as outlined in the USLI handbook. The team is also committed to abiding by NAR regulations to ensure the safety of the team and others during the building process and launches. To ensure that the rocket does not exceed the intended apogee, the Rocket Girls will account for all parts and materials and forces associated to the rocket’s flight during analysis.
Mission Statement and Goals
The Rocket Girls
are committed to the development of a reusable high-power rocket that
can reach a one mile apogee and obtain experimental data from the
payload without violating any safety guidelines defined by the Rocket
Girls, NAR, or USLI.
- Developing a reusable high-power rocket
- Reaching a one mile apogee
- Ensuring complete recovery of the rocket and payload after flight
- Obtaining experimental data from the payload
- Following safety guidelines defined by
• The Rocket Girls
• NAR
• USLI
Mission Success Criteria
The rocket flight will be deemed successful if the following criteria
are met:
- No safety violations are encountered.
- The recovery system functions correctly.
- The rocket is safely recovered.
- Apogee is between 4700 ft and 5280 ft, and not exceeding 5600 ft.
- The payload will measure the amount of stress on the grid fins to allow for a comparison of drag between grid fins and typical rocket fins.
Click here to meet the members of the Rocket Girls and find out a little more about them!
What Is USLI?
According to NASA, "NASA University Student Launch Initiative, or
USLI, is a competition that challenges university-level students to
design, build and launch a reusable rocket with a scientific or
engineering payload to one mile above ground level, or AGL. The project
engages students in scientific research and real-world engineering
processes with NASA engineers.
Students propose to participate in USLI during the fall. Once selected,
teams design their rocket and payload throughout the academic year. USLI
requires a NASA review of the teams' preliminary and critical designs.
The project also requires flight readiness and safety reviews before the
rockets and payloads are approved for launch.
Teams complete a Post-Launch Assessment Review to include conclusions
from their science or engineering experiment and the overall flight
performance. The Preliminary Design Review, Critical Design Review and
Flight Readiness Review are conducted by a panel of scientists and
engineers from NASA, NASA contactors and external partners.
NASA Student Launch Projects are sponsored by ATK Aerospace Systems. The
annual launch event is hosted at Bragg Farms in Toney, Ala., and launch
services are provided by the National Association of Rocketry."
Click here to read more about the NASA USLI program.