Abstract
Technical Project Abstract
The Aerospace Capstone Team 3 sought to advance hybrid rocket motor technology through Project ATLAS. The objective was to design and construct a laboratory-scale hybrid rocket motor which would serve as a testbed for several potential performance-enhancing components, which if verified to increase efficiency, consistency, and predictability, could be used in future rocket motors ranging in scale.
In order to create a hybrid motor as a stable testbed for highly repeatable experiments, the motor was designed from readily available materials and commercial-off-the-shelf components with safety, reliability, and cost driving the selections. As a prototype, the motor was built at a very small scale to reduce cost, complexity, and risk. Experimental data from testings were gathered with a constructed data acquisition (DAQ) system for the verification of the functionality of the design.
Two areas of improvement over traditional hybrid motor designs were explored. Cost reduction from manufacturing complex, high-performance oxidizer injectors was sought by 3D-printing one out of high-temperature resin. The resin injector was tested to endure the thermal loads produced during combustion for the duration of firing. To allow greater flexibility in design, the fuel grains were also 3D-printed from ABS plastic. The faster speed at which these injectors and fuel grains can be produced allowed the team to experiment with several designs, and multiple pairs of an injector and a compatible fuel grain were tested under operational loads.
A series of hot-fire testings was successfully conducted, with DAQ system collecting all intended data. Future work for improved design, manufacturing, safety measures, and data acquisition was identified.
STS Project Abstract
The STS research explored the evolution of aerospace advancements through the lens of STS, focusing on pivotal instances: Samuel Pierpont Langley, World War II (WW2), the Space Race, commercialization of space, and the drive for sustainable aviation. The research investigated how structures of power, including government, media, public, private companies, and academia influence outcomes in the aerospace field and their impact on society.
The study delved into Samuel Langley’s government-funded attempts at human flight, which ultimately failed due to negative media coverage and public perception, leading to funding cuts. WW2 was then studied, where the urgency of war and the potential of aircraft led to a massive government push for aircraft production. The interplay between the military and aircraft manufacturers resulted in production challenges and delays, yet significant research advancements during this period have had a lasting impact on aviation. During the Cold War, the launch of Sputnik by the USSR triggered a competitive response from the U.S., leading to the creation of NASA and the moon landing mission. The Space Race exemplified how political and military power dynamics drove aerospace advancements. The research also covered the commercialization of space, highlighting the collaboration between the government, private companies, and academia. Finally, the development of sustainable aviation fuel, driven by government incentives, private sector innovation, and academic research was addressed.
Overall, the study underscored the importance of understanding the interplay of power structures in shaping aerospace advancements and their societal implications. It was also suggested that the future of aerospace could see successes in the expansion of space exploration and sustainable aviation, based on the similar interactions between the relevant structures of power as the Space Race. Future work involves deeper investigation into current events to evaluate their outcomes.
Relevance of the Technical and STS Projects to each other
The motivation for pursuing a hybrid rocket motor for the technical project was partly to equip ourselves, students, with skills and knowledge that reflect the interest of the general public and the private sector. Hybrid rocket motor technology offers a range of benefits compared to its solid and liquid counterparts in terms of complexity, safety, throttability, etc. Hybrid motors are therefore of interest especially for last-mile space maneuvers in the greater scheme of NASA’s On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (OSAM) for example, or the space-for-space commerce more in general. However, our understanding of hybrid motors are currently highly empirical and lack predictability of their performance characteristics. The technical project was therefore carried out with the long-term goal of developing means to better characterize the performance of hybrid motors, improve their efficiency, and investigate methods for constructing them at a larger scale.
The technical project succeeded in designing, manufacturing, and hot firing the ATLAS hybrid rocket motor. The STS research project investigated the effect of different interplays of structures of power on the effort outcomes in the field of aerospace and their impact on society. The STS research project enhances the technical project by elucidating the context in which what aerospace engineering students today study stands, and how that context is structured. For aforementioned benefits, development in hybrid rocket motor technology is sought after by the commercial players in the space industry as well as government initiatives, and higher education (UVA). The STS research project revealed that similar structures of power are involved in the recent commercialization of space and the pursuit of sustainable aviation.
