Julia Carlstad

1230835
Team #1 Members: Dominic Boddie, Ahmed Qureshi, and Tran Le
ESS 102 AA
Eggonaut Rocket Report
Initial Rocket Design:
For the initial rocket design my role was egg protection, Trans role was identifying how
much fuel would maximize rocket height, Dominics role was to design the fins, and Ahmeds
role was to develop the parachute and nose cone.
Nose cone with
parachute

Parachute

Egg

Fins

Egg

For egg protection we chose to wrap the egg in a paper towel and tape, then attach a parachute.
The idea here was that the parachute would prevent the egg from actually requiring significant
padding because it would slow the decent enough that the egg wouldnt break. The fins were
used to keep the rocket going straight up by attaching three fins at equal spacing around the body
of the rocket. The rocket was filled about one-third of the way with water to allow for a
maximum amount of fuel while still minimizing the amount of weight within the rocket body.
This was calculated using the equation mfuel v fuel =mrocket v rocket . The nose cone was another
bottle end which was lightly attached to the top with two pieces of string in the hopes that it
would flap open to release the parachute and egg when the rocket reached a maximum height.
Finally, the parachute was a circular piece of garbage bag attached to the egg with string.
First Launch Results:
At the first launch Dominic and I measured the height of the rocket, Tran pulled the
launch string, and Ahmed pumped the rocket. We filled the rocket one-third full with water for
this launch. The rocket reached a height of about 230 ft, but the parachute did not deploy and the
egg was broken. While the height was a success as we are trying to reach at least 100ft, but the
payload was destroyed so the overall launch was not fully successful.

Analysis One:
The amount of fuel in this launch seemed very adequate because the rocket reached the
target height. The egg protection was not adequate since the egg broke and the parachute did not
deploy. The nose cone did not flap off as desired which prevented the egg and parachute from
deploying. This caused the rocket to fall very rapidly to the ground and hit at a high speed. The
nose cone should be replaced with something lighter like a paper flap that will come off more
easily. The parachute should be changed to a larger, double layered parachute that is folded in
such a way that it will be more easily pulled off of the rocket body. The egg should be better
insulated so that it can land more gently and so that the egg itself is not the first to hit the ground.
No changes need to be made to the maximum height reached. In fact, some height could be lost
to prevent as high of velocities to be reached upon impact back to earth.
Changes to Rocket Design:
For the second launch our group edited the design of our parachute and nose cone in
order to ensure that the parachute deployed. To do this we made a double layered parachute with
a smaller inner parachute and a larger parachute above that was then taped to the egg. These were
made out of lightweight plastic bags that were only loosely placed over the top of the rocket and
the egg. This was designed to be lightweight enough to flap off when the rocket reached its
maximum height. In order to secure the egg and parachute in place during launch and the upward
flight a paper cone was placed over the top of the parachute and egg at the top of the rocket. This
was also placed very lightly on top and with a flap on one side in order to ensure that it would
fall off when the rocket reached the maximum height and the parachute would be deployed.
Paper Cone
Egg

Parachute 2
Parachute 1

Fins
Second Launch Results:
Two launches were performed at the second launch day. During both launches Dominic
and I measured the altitude, Ahmed pressurized the rocket, and Tran pulled the launch cord. The

first launch on this day was unsuccessful because the egg broke. The bottle was again filled to
one-third capacity with water. In this launch the parachute was caught by the wind, tangling the
strings that connected the parachute to the egg. The rocket reached a height of 230ft during the
first launch on this day, which was successfully breaking the height requirement, but since the
egg broke the launch was a failure overall. While the parachute did deploy during this launch, the
egg got tangled in the parachute which caused it all to plummet to the ground. The parachute had
to be cut from the egg and then cleaned.
We prepared another launch with our second egg for this day. This time, we were very
careful about how the strings were attached to the egg and then how the egg and parachute were
folded under the cone and onto the top of the rocket in order to ensure that they would not
become tangled in the wind. This launch allowed the parachute to successfully deploy and float
down to the ground at a much slower velocity, reducing the impact on the egg and allowing our
payload to survive. This launch reached a height of 130ft, which was much lower than the
previous two launches where the parachute did deploy, however this is still above the desired
height and can be considered a success. This loss in maximum altitude is to be expected thought
because the deployment of the parachute creates drag on the rocket and slows its ascent.
Analysis Two:
Our changes for these launches were not initially successful but were eventually
successful after final adjustments were made to detangle the parachute. As with the first launch,
the one-third full bottle of water was adequate in achieving an altitude that met our goal of 100ft.
The changes in egg protection did not work at first because of the bunching of the parachute, but
they did eventually work when we ensured that they were aligned in a way that did not tangle in
the air. This launch was difficult because of the weather as well, which was windy and rainy
creating gusts that would blow parts of the rocket off of their set position. Even with this the
changes to the rocket were successful in creating a launch that reached the desired height and
that had a successful landing of the payload without breaking the egg.