The Bulldog Rocketry Club tested their rocket motor in front of a crowd of students, faculty and staff, community members and alumni at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s (UMD) Land Lab in early November. The test is part of a year-long buildup toward the Spaceport America Cup, an international rocketry competition that takes place in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in June.
“We’re trying to put together a rocket engine that will put our rocket to the altitude that we want,” said Andrew Ludwig, the team’s chief engineer. In order to do that, the team needs to collect data on how their motor performs, so they work together to set up electronics that will capture the information they need.
The team carefully transported their hand-built 4-foot rocket motor to the middle of an open field. From there, they flipped it upside down and secured it to an upright metal frame, or test stand, which was safely anchored to the ground.
With the motor and the electronics in place, the team joined the crowd standing safely at a distance and began counting down together before igniting the motor.
After the final count, anticipation hung in the air for a few moments. Then the rocket motor burned. Flames and a cone of smoke shot into the November sky. It roared like the engine of a fighter jet. The team cheered and clapped. It was a success, and a taste of what competition day might feel like in June.
Now, they’ll return to campus and hunker down in their work, continuing to refine the workings of a rocket they hope will elevate them above their global competitors in New Mexico next year.
Curious what a rocketry competition looks like? Watch this short documentary following Bulldog Rocketry’s impressive 2018 appearance: