Students from BYU’s Mechanical Engineering Department attended the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) near Green River, Utah on June 21-23, 2012.

Members of the team were Cody Peterson (MET junior), Levi Rupert (ME senior), Brettany Rupert (ME BS ’12), Ben Halling (MET senior), Eric Wilcox (ME senior), and Eric Hardester (MBA/ME MS student).

BYU competed in the Basic category, which requires launch and recovery of a rocket with a 10 pound payload to reach an altitude of 10,000 feet.  The advanced category requires a 10 pound payload to reach 25,000 feet.   Solid, liquid, and hybrid rockets were launched, and the highest reported altitude was over 19,000 feet.

“No one on our team had any previous rocket experience,” commented Hardester.  “We had to work hard and we learned a lot.  We were all just so happy to get to go to the competition and launch the rocket we had been working on.”

At the competition, the BYU rocket was the first to the launch pad and the first to launch.  Unfortunately, after ascending to 742 feet, the motor casing had a blowout and the rocket was blown apart and fell back to the ground before reaching the 10,000 foot goal.  “There were a total of twelve rockets from as far away as Quebec and Brazil,” said faculty advisor Dr. David Fullwood.  “I don’t think a single rocket operated flawlessly.  Some were never recovered.”

“Our team did a great job,” stated Fullwood.  "We have yet another list of lessons learned for next year!”

The Experimental Sounding Rocket Association, founded in 2003, seeks to further the field of experimental sounding rocketry, which the Association defines as roughly between “experimental” or “research” high-power rockets and sounding rockets capable of reaching space, or a 100 km altitude.  This was ESRA’s 7^th IREC, and despite a last-minute panic about statewide fire restrictions and very heavy winds, the competition moved forward.

The emphasis of the ESRA rocket competitions is student design and construction of as many parts of the rockets as possible, including propulsion, structures, avionics, recovery, and payloads.  Commercial components or rockets are not prohibited, but more points are given for student-designed and –built hardware.

For more information or to see a full list of competitors, please visit http://www.soundingrocket.org/.