I am a contestant for the M-Prize challenge

[Jimmy Snyder]

One question I have, what are the practical applications of sending a <20 gram package into orbit? Or would this be considered a stepping-stone project, with an ultimate goal of launching somewhat heavier payloads at low cost?

You can hardly call $100,000/kg low cost.

 

[Borek]

More like 175k$/kg.

 

[Redbelly98]

You can hardly call $100,000/kg low cost.

More like 175k$/kg.

Fair enough. But my question remains: what useful tasks can be done with a 20 gram orbiting satellite?

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

So is that it? No interest?

Monroe

Sorry if our joking has put you off. There are certainly several members who may be interested in the topic including but not limited to Turbo and Astro.

I think this thread got off on a bad foot. You may want to think about starting a new thread yourself in one of the engineering forums for more appropriate and worthwile responses. General Discussion tends towards lighthearted joking.

 

[monroelkjr]

I see that and hopefully that's over with for the most part. Just so we get the record straight all the money is spent in legal fees and for the property at the launch site. Once this is all done a typical launch cost us about $30.000 and the typical payload is a cubesat that weighs about 10lbs. We would love to use liquid fuel but the square cube law may prevent it. I'm not saying that’s impossible just not likely. We can make our own fuel grains (what rocket guy's call the propellant) they are hollow and burn from the inside out as stated. Our grains are in a finocyl configuration (shaped like a star) to provide more surface area than a "Bates" design that’s just a plain boar cylinder. This increases the specific Impulse and the rate of burn. I won’t boar you with nozzle design right now. Staging solid fuel rockets is very tricky, but not impractical. We do plan to develop liquid fuel for a little larger payload. Right now I'm making an Injector for a fella that’s testing a new pump design. We are making parts for Richard Nakka and the SS2S mission as well. Rick Maschek is one of the rocket guy’s doing 100Kft launches he’s on our team so there’s some of that here too. We have a meteorologist and a fella at NASA working with us as well.

M

 

[monroelkjr]

Where do you suggest I move the thread to guy's?

M

 

[Cyrus]

I see that and hopefully that's over with for the most part. Just so we get the record straight all the money is spent in legal fees and for the property at the launch site. Once this is all done a typical launch cost us about $30.000 and the typical payload is a cubesat that weighs about 10lbs. We would love to use liquid fuel but the square cube law may prevent it. I'm not saying that’s impossible just not likely. We can make our own fuel grains (what rocket guy's call the propellant) they are hollow and burn from the inside out as stated. Our grains are in a finocyl configuration (shaped like a star) to provide more surface area than a "Bates" design that’s just a plain boar cylinder. This increases the specific Impulse and the rate of burn. I won’t boar you with nozzle design right now. Staging solid fuel rockets is very tricky, but not impractical. We do plan to develop liquid fuel for a little larger payload. Right now I'm making an Injector for a fella that’s testing a new pump design. We are making parts for Richard Nakka and the SS2S mission as well. Rick Maschek is one of the rocket guy’s doing 100Kft launches he’s on our team so there’s some of that here too. We have a meteorologist and a fella at NASA working with us as well.

M

I'm going to see Steve Eves launch his Saturn V on the 25th.

 

[monroelkjr]

This rocket! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9R1bgB6ifo&feature=related
Have fun!

M

 

[monroelkjr]

Steve Did a great job! Very nicely done. Did you notice it landed standing up that was a rush!

Monroe

 

[Cyrus]

Steve Did a great job! Very nicely done. Did you notice it landed standing up that was a rush!

Monroe

I was there, I have a whole thread on it too!

 

[Redbelly98]

I was there, I have a whole thread on it too!

Ah yes, this thread:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=309783

Cyrus posted some videos at the end of post #4.

 

[monroelkjr]

Here is some Video of the "Quad Pod II" by one of the Team Members Dave Hien! Ever see a solid rocket hover?

http://www.teamprometheus.org/QuadPod.html

There is My Corona Ion Engine in the blog also have a look!

 

[monroelkjr]

We recovered our Near Space Expedition I photos and Video! The first picture is here: http://www.teamprometheus.org/NearSpace.html
I will be updating as the video is processed thrue the night. The video footage will be last. The payload was recovered by a farmer in his field.

2 more missions and we launch a rocket from right here!

Monroe
Team Prometheus

 

[Astronuc]

We recovered our Near Space Expedition I photos and Video! The first picture is here: http://www.teamprometheus.org/NearSpace.html
I will be updating as the video is processed thrue the night. The video footage will be last. The payload was recovered by a farmer in his field.

2 more missions and we launch a rocket from right here!

Monroe
Team Prometheus

Thanks for the update, Monroe. Good luck with your project!

 

[Redbelly98]

I read that a private company started launching rockets commercially yesterday. People who have been taking part in this thread may be interested:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=2271283

 

[Equate]

I read that a private company started launching rockets commercially yesterday. People who have been taking part in this thread may be interested:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=2271283

Wow.

That company is impressive. Considering Space X was established in 2002, they just might put NASA out of business at the pace they are going.