Our Mission:
To Provide students with hands-on experience with all aspects of rocket and payload testing and launching. This is accomplished through a combination of scientific research, technology transfer, internet project management, and industry collaboration programs.
Current Project: SRP -5
In the program's most current project the work of SRP-4 has been built on and expanded. The current project includes a plasma probe for to study of the D-region of the Ionosphere. The components of the rocket's physical structure have been refined and reimplemetned
Additionally, the project includes both a Radio system and magnetometer designed at Tokai University,
Currently various systems of the rocket are being tested to verify performence. The rocket is scheduled to be rebuilt in late August. When the system is reassembled further testing will be done to insure the security of the payload and the sanity of the sensor output.
Current planned launch dat: Winter 2007
Goals of the Student Rocket Project
Student Training - Provide students with opportunities for hands on experience with design, construction, testing and launch of sounding rocket payloads.
Scientific Research - Develop low cost, student designed rocket payloads to investigate high latitude geophysical phenomena.
Technology Transfer - Provide frequent launch opportunities to maintain the technology base and transfer specialized knowledge from practicing aerospace professionals to students.
Collaborations with Industry - Provide a low cost test bed for verification of new flight hardware technology and development of internet tools for distributed project management.
The Alaska Student Rocket Project has been very successful in providing interdisciplinary research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and in allowing these students to interact with the steady flow of scientists and engineers from around the nation who come to Poker Flat to launch rocket payloads. Approximately 20 students participate in this project each year as volunteers. Many of these students, who range from freshman to Ph.D. students, are using their participation in this project to fulfill some aspect of their academic program (e.g., several Masters’ theses have already resulted from this project). Fellowships or scholarships are awarded to the students who provide leadership roles in coordinating the project and leading the design teams. The students participating in this project become familiar with all aspects of a sounding rocket mission while become resident experts in some specific aspect of the project. Nearly 100 students have participated in this program since it began in 1991.
In addition to providing higher education opportunities, the Student Rocket Project has also been slowly but surely building the research infrastructure at UAF for the development of flight hardware for rocket and spacecraft payloads. The Student Rocket Project also contributes to the ASGP precollege mission through active involvement of K-12 teachers and students in various aspects of the project.
The first payload (SRP-1) was launched in July 1992 and a second more sophisticated payload (SRP-2) was launched in May 1995. These first two payloads focused primarily on the engineering development of the payload components, including VHF and S-band telemetry transmitters, on-board computers, and two-stage parachute recovery system. The students built all components for these payloads (with the exception of the GPS receiver on SRP-2) and performed all mission analysis tasks, including the development of software for wind weighting.
Poker Flat
The Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) is the only university-operated sounding rocket range in the world, and the Alaska Student Rocket Project was created to better integrate this unique aerospace resource into the academic program at UAF. Students at UAF work together as an interdisciplinary team to design, build, test, and launch sounding rocket payloads from the nearby Poker Flat facility. The goal of the program is to provide the students with an opportunity to apply their technical education to the solution of real-world engineering design problems. Equally important to the technical aspects of this program are the practical experiences gained in working as part of an interdisciplinary design team in an environment similar to what the students will encounter in industry. The ASGP director serves as the primary faculty advisor and manager of this ongoing program.
Closely associated with the Student Rocket Project is the development of a rocket motor test stand at Poker Flat Research Range. The former range manager at Poker Flat secured a donation of 20 ASROC MK-37 rocket motors from the Navy. ASGP fellowships have been awarded to two engineering students to design a fully-instrumented rocket motor test stand suitable for test firing these motors, which each produce 13,000 lbs. of thrust. Once funding is secured to build the test stand, it will be used as a laboratory facility in conjunction with the propulsion class taught by the mechanical engineering department.
