RUNNING HEAD: Team America Rocketry Competition 1

Team America Rocket Challenge Progress Report 7

By: Amy Nguyen and Sidney Boakye

Junior Mentorship

Date: 2/9/17

Governors School @ Innovation Park

Objectives: To finish the fins and attach them to the rocket and to begin testing.
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Materials and Methods

In the past two weeks, we have conducted more research on the shape of the fins as well

as the nose cone. For the fins, we have found that the shape does not significantly alter

effectiveness of the rocket during flight. We found out that the most important thing is that our

fins were properly attached. We also know that we can not use an excess amount of super glue. It

wouldnt only me wasteful but it would be detrimental to the aerodynamic design of our rocket.

It was also recommended that we do not attach the fins directly to the end of the rocket as it is

made of wood and would burn easily. After the fins will have been attached, we will move on to

attaching the rocket engine. We have worked on detailing the fins and smoothing out the sides

with sandpaper as seen in Figure 1. As in Figure 2, we have determined the length of the fins to

be around half of the rocket. We will adjust the size of the fins later on. In the next two weeks,

we will be attaching the fins as well as the rocket motors and the nosecone and hopefully, begin

testing.
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Figure 1 - Sidney sanding the balsa wood fins

Figure 2 - A physical simulation of what the rocket will look like after the body tube

construction is complete
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Data

We have not collected data yet.

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References

A. (2016). TARC 2016 Video. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZZMcnH-WA8&t=7s

A. (2008). Rocketry How-to Part 1: How Model Rockets Work. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYh1pWHoQXE&t=2s

A. (2008). Rocketry How-to Part 2:Components for a Rocket. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kAkitKKKlA

A. (2008). Rocketry How-to Part 3: Construction Techniques and Supplies. Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxQ7vGgXx5Y

A. (2008). Rocketry How-to Part 4: Finishing the Rocket's Fins. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS021hCT3LU

A. (2015). Team America Rocketry Challenge. Retrieved from

http://rocketcontest.org/