Blog - Castle Point Rocketry

News

Testing Review

July 18, 2019July 19, 2019
by Dakota

[This is a long article, but it has some very important updates.]

Over the last ten days, Castle Point Rocketry tested our proof-of-concept rocket. We traveled from HQ in Hoboken to our test site in southern New Jersey on July 9th and returned on the 18th.

Here’s what you need to know.

Setup

The preliminary phases of our testing schedule took longer than anticipated. Though this was the team’s third visit to the site, more infrastructure needed to be laid out. We ordered chemicals, installed the truss, and established ground control. We spent Wednesday through Saturday making sure everything was perfect.

Tank Testing

As mentioned in Ready to Test, validating the liquid oxygen (LOX) tank was the first step of our testing procedure. Infinite Composites Technologies manufactured our LOX tank, and they asked that we do preliminary tests for them.

On Sunday, July 14, an advisor approved us to start testing.

Time lapse footage of our LOX tank going up.

TT.01: COPV Cryogen Validation

Composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPV) such as our LOX tank have been proven capable of withstanding high pressures. COPVs provide a burgeoning market for lightweight tanks by eliminating the need of an internal metal liner. The manufacturer expected that their formula would withstand low temperatures, too. But putting both together… That was our job.

After retreating 100 meters to Ground Control, we opened valves in a unique sequence to begin the test. First, cryogenic liquid nitrogen (LN2) filled the tank 4/5 full. Then we squeezed pressurized gaseous nitrogen (GN2) into the space that remained, elevating the tank pressure to 500 psi. (Air pressure at sea level is ~15 psi.)

From our perch in Ground Control, we couldn’t see exactly what was happening. But we had an array of sensors and cameras on-site that processed live data back to us.

The team watches the LOX tank closely… from afar.

The LN2 in the tank caused a thin layer of water to condense — and then freeze — on the tank. This temporarily turned the tank from black to a cloudy white, then back to black when the ice melted.

After holding for several minutes with no drop in pressure, the team agreed there were no leaks present. Ben actuated the dump valve, releasing the remaining LN2 in a plume of white steam, and we approached the tank to inspect the tank. No cracks, vents, peeling, or patching were found. We concluded that the Infinite tank could withstand cryogenic temperatures at high pressures.

TT.02: COPV LOX Compatibility Validation

TT.01 took less time than expected. On the order of hours. We planned the day with 4 hours for each test, yet TT.01 only took 34 minutes from start to finish. Too easy. Upon consensus from Nathan (Team Lead), Monica (Safety Officer), and Luke (Industry Advisor), we moved swiftly into TT.02.

Following TT.01, there wasn’t much to do in terms of preparing for the next test. After all, we simply needed to swap out an LN2 cylinder (called a dewar) for a LOX dewar. This required new hoses, too, but we came prepared. Within 30 minutes, we were back at Ground Control.

A screenshot from the program recording our incoming camera feeds. CCW from top: Infrared thermal imaging, test site visual, and dump valve close-up.

We took our time with this test. Though LOX boils at a slightly higher temperature than LN2 (-297°F instead of -320°F), it is much more dangerous. When LN2 boils off, it creates GN2. GN2 makes up 70% of the air we breathe — it is stable, is non-reactive, and plays well with others. LOX, however, boils off into gaseous oxygen (GOX). GOX is incredibly reactive, as oxygen is the driving force of any combustion reaction. With the slightest disturbance, a thimbleful of LOX can create a dazzling explosion. Should either GOX or LOX chemically react with the experimental COPV, a hole would release all oxygen at once, providing the basis for a massive fireball.

Luckily, we did not deal with any such eruption. Though the tank off-gassed a lot more than expected, much more than the LN2 run, we rang in yet another success. A holding time of 10 minutes proved our tank held an adequate amount of LOX to launch with.

TT.03: COPV Pressurize LOX Validation

Though we took our sweet time to make sure all of the GOX had adequately diffused before we drove the van up, we still had a remarkable amount of time left in the day. “Why not do another test?” we thought.

This test required LOX again. Under pressure, this time. We took a collective breath and pushed “Start.”

Once again, we were surprised by the amount of gas released from the system, but we assured ourselves it was nothing to worry about. The pressure did stay constant at ~300 psi for the full test, which indicated we didn’t have a leak.

Full Stack Testing

Following our three successful Tank Tests, we went into overhaul mode. Full Stack Testing required removing the LOX tank from the gantry hoist, placing it back in the rocket, and raising the rocket on the truss. Additionally, we needed to move our ground support relay boxes and fire extinguishers. (These relay boxes are like runners in a relay race. They act as a hand-off of information between Ground Control and the valves and sensors.) This change took the team a full day to complete.

FST.01: Full Stack Pressurization Test

Now comes the part of our story that gets a little bit… sad. On Tuesday, July 16th, we launched into FST.01 with great expectations. But the pressure just wouldn’t build. FST.01 only required the use of GN2. Since GN2 is practically harmless, Luke approved us to stay on-site with the rocket until we reached a pressure of 100psi. But even with our gas cylinders all the way open, we simply couldn’t get above 25psi.

Monica, Will, and Luke descended upon the LOX tank, assuming it (or one of its fittings) was the culprit. After a lengthy, methodical search, they found the problem: A hairline crack had formed on the very bottom of the tank. This was a deal-breaker.

Here’s the deal with cracks: They aren’t good for structural stability. Even at pressures as low as 25 psi, the crack was undoubtedly growing. Undetectably slowly, maybe, but definitely growing as GN2 tried to force its way from high to low pressure. Had we increased the system pressure any more, this effect would have increased dramatically — ending in a catastrophic burst as all of the GN2 left at once.

A tank exploding onboard the rocket was not what we wanted — so we unfortunately had to call off the rest of our testing schedule.

Moving Forward

So, what happens now?

After careful consideration of the data, the team concluded that the hairline fracture had occurred from “temperature cycling” the COPV. The tank went through a series of contractions and expansions as it got subcooled then superheated, which delaminated the layers of the COPV. In much the same way that ruffling a phone book puffs it up, this had introduced space between the “pages” of the tank wall, eventually leading to a full crack.

So, Castle Point Rocketry is still in our Testing Phase. Though we weren’t able to get through all five Full Stack Tests this week, we will soon have another tank. In the meantime, though, it was nice enough just to raise a rocket in the air — depressurized, of course — and look at what we had built.

For ease of access to the internal components, we didn’t add the nose cone, fuselage (skin), or fins. In a launch scenario, the rocket would look different.

News

Projected Testing Schedule

July 12, 2019July 19, 2019
by Dakota

Assuming the final pieces fall into place (a chemical delivery here, rocket fuel there), we will begin our testing procedure soon. We’ve laid out an explanation, but now… Here’s a timeline. Be sure to also check our Facebook page every once in a while for any updates!

Day Three:

Castle Point Rocketry is expecting a delivery of pressurized gas and cryogenic liquids on the morning of Friday, July 12. Once those come through, we will begin pressure testing the subassemblies of pipes and fittings. We have already begun removing small subsections from the full stack in preparation for this.

We have also pulled the liquid oxygen (LOX) composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) from the air frame. In the afternoon, we will have the time to move on to our first official test, TT.01: COPV Cryogen Validation.

Though we are not rushing, we also look forward to having enough time to complete TT.02: COPV LOX Compatibility Validation today.

Day Four:

Following closely on its heels, we are waking up early Saturday morning for more testing.

TT.03: COPV Pressurized LOX Validation will start first, right after we drive to purchase our surrogate rocket fuel from a nearby airport.

That afternoon, we will finish FST.01: Full Stack Pressurization Test.

Day Five:

Sunday will be a long day. We have scheduled both FST.02: Cold Flow Test and FST.03: Ignition Sequence Test, when we first load the fuel tank with actual fuel.

Day Six:

Monday morning, we’ll be up early again to test FST.04: Hot Abort Test. Assuming it goes well, that afternoon will see our first full launch setup with FST.05: Full Stack Hot Fire Test.

Day Seven:

We have reserved some time on Tuesday for a second hot fire test, in case we need it. It also serves as a good spill-over time for any tests which take longer than expected, or a rain date for any other tests.

And then we drive home!

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The Faces of Castle Point Rocketry

July 12, 2019July 12, 2019
by Dakota

It’s high time we re-introduce everyone who makes up this team. After all, once we test this thing and get our big media break, you’ll want to know who we all are.

Team Members

A core group of eight have been with this project since the beginning. We have four Mechanical Engineers (ME), two Chemical Engineers (CHE), one Computer Engineer (CPE), and one Computer Scientist (CS). Pictures and short blurbs below.

Abraham Edens (ME)
Thomas Flaherty (ME)
Faris Ibrahim (CPE)

Abe is our Aerodynamic Design and Mathematics Specialist. He helped solve the regenerative heating problem and worked with Tom and Will on many manufacturing tasks.

Tom also specializes in computer-aided design (CAD). He spent innunerable hours modeling an injector to Monica’s and Dakota’s specifications before tackling other projects.

Faris, working on Electronics, Signals, and Avionics, was integral to designing the team’s circuit boards and developing how those systems fit into the rocket.

Unfortunately, Abe, Tom, and Faris are unable to join the other members of the team for testing. However, we are still very proud to call them members of the Castle Point Rocketry team — we couldn’t have done it without them!

Benjamin Iofel (CS)
William Skwirut (ME)
Nathan Tahbaz (ME)

Ben is Lead Programmer, meaning he has literally written the code for our testing procedure. Recently, Ben has also branched out to become our resident electronic hardware expert.

Will is formally the Machining Specialist, but he has extensive knowledge of (and a quippy remark for) for nearly every facet of the project. He also played a large role in designing the plumbing system.

Nathan is the true Renaissance Man of the group. As Team Lead, it’s his job to ensure every subsystem is stitched together — on top of serving as Point of Contact for purchasing and inquiries.

Monica Traupmann (CHE)
Dakota Van Deursen (CHE)

Monica and Dakota, Propulsion Specialists, collaborate to fill our propulsion and PR needs.

Monica, who is also our Safety Officer, designed our plumbing system with Will and Dakota, manages our social media presence, and interfaces with many of our top donors. Dakota mainly focused on the engine, but he also manages the project’s blogs and attends to the tasks that fall in the ever-present gray areas.

Ben, Will, Nathan, Monica, and Dakota are all on site for this week’s testing procedures.

Team Volunteers

As you may have noticed around campus and online, Castle Point Rocketry has put out a call for volunteers. Two excited Stevens students have come to our aid, and we are very grateful!

Daniel Cooke, Avionics and Telemetry
Rodrigo Nogueira, Fabrication

Rodrigo is a graduate student in ME who joined us in early February. His extensive background in fabrication and manufacturing have come in handy many a late night.

Dan, a rising junior in CPE, joined us at the beginning of the summer. He has been a great help to Ben in preparing our electronic systems for integration and testing.

Rodrigo is on site for this week’s testing procedure, and Dan may be coming down over the weekend.

Industry Advisors

We are also lucky to have had the input of two professional aerospace engineers. Rich Kelly from Valcor Engineering and Luke Colby from Triton Space Technologies have thankfully withstood a barrage of phone calls and emails from the team.

Luke (back row, middle) and Rich (back row, second from right) visiting the team in Hoboken.

Rich and Luke are both on site for this week’s testing procedures.

News

Testing: Days 0 – 2

July 12, 2019July 12, 2019
by Dakota

These last three days were dominated by the minutiae associated with launching a rocket. Sure, we did as much setup as possible beforehand. But there’s much more to do once the rocket actually gets here.

Day Zero: Packing Up

Tuesday, July 9, was particularly chaotic. Myriad administrative snafus demanded quick action from the whole team. Dakota grabbed a truck so we could transport our rocket. And, most pressingly, we needed to move everything out of our Griffith work space and go mobile.

Monica, Nathan, Ben, Dan, Will, and Dakota (behind camera) take a breather after lifting our rocket onto the dolly. More straps and plastic wrap were added to further reduce movement.

Due to everything else going on, we didn’t even get around to packing until 6:00pm. By that point, we knew we would be leaving late, but we hoped 1:00am would be the limit. Yet 1:00am came and went.

At 2:30am, we gently loaded the rocket into the truck. (Lift gates are a blessing.) It took all of the remaining six of us, but it happened without a snag. Come 4:00am, we were practically finished.

Our lab and rocket, all crammed into one 26′ box truck.

The lab looked lived in, but at least it was devoid of much our mess. And what better time than 4:00am to start 2.5 hours of highway truck driving?

Day One: Tying It All Together

Dakota scrambled into the driver’s seat. Ben and Rodrigo piled in and kept him company to Salem County. (And kept him awake.) After all, there’s that old saying: “Six eyes are better than two with a $500,000 rocket and boxed-up laboratory in tow.”

They arrived okay — and just in time to volley off the first round of calls to gas/cryogenic companies to confirm our delivery schedule. Starting at 8:00am on the dot, Dakota, Will, and Nathan were on the phone until noon. Then, it was just a matter of waiting for the team to assemble.

The shed at left will store our chemicals. Ground control is barely off-screen to the right. The test site is 2,000 feet behind the camera.

A brief team meeting preceded driving to the test site and setting up ground control. The remaining daylight hours were swallowed up by running 2,000 feet of fiber optic cable and cleaning out the on-site shed for our chemical deliveries.

Day Two: Finishing Touches

It took a little under 14 months, but it’s finally happened — Castle Point Rocketry has received a shipment of rocket propellant. (The oxidizing half, at least.) Shortly after a late start to the day, the first cryogen delivery came through: liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen. It’s a good thing we got that shed cleaned out!

For the rest of the day, we split up into small project teams. The test stand was bent and needed a quick weld — Rodrigo made short work of it. Over the weekend, the gantry hoist slipped on the muddy ground. We righted and reinforced it. Ben and Nathan focused on getting the avionics and valves attached and laid out.

CP Rocketry Test Site, featuring the Mayor’s Soy Beans

Though all parts of plumbing were screwed together, Will and Monica still had some tightening to do. They spent most of the day in the truck-lab working on the rocket. Dakota manned the ground control station, where there is WiFi and a view of the road, to finish up some remaining purchases and administrative duties.

The inside of our truck-turned-lab. (There are no chemicals stored inside.)

When interrupted by a small storm, we broke for lunch. Then, after three more hours in the sun, a massive thunderstorm rumbled in from Delaware. We took it as our cue to leave before it got dark out — but not without first getting absolutely drenched.

What’s Left

We’re zooming in on the first day of true testing. It’s highly likely that, after a delivery Friday morning, we will be testing Friday afternoon. In the meantime, the team still has a short laundry list of tasks to accomplish. First and foremost, we need to reestablish ground control. It kinda tipped over in the rain, and we had to rescue it.

Stay tuned to our Facebook page for a live feed of testing. (Or the live feed itself.)

News

Full Stack

July 11, 2019July 12, 2019
by Nate

“Full stack” is our tech jargon for a complete system. We refer to the entire, fully-assembled rocket as the full stack. All subsystems, including structural, propulsion, avionics, and recovery, are finally together. That means every component required to turn the rocket on is integrated, meticulously cleaned, carefully installed according to the design specifications, and painstakingly checked to make sure it functions in the whole system.

Adding a few final touches to the piping and wiring.

You’ve seen quite a few photos of our full stack flooding our social media over the last few days.* We’ve finally been able to get some good angles of it now that it is out of the clean room. (All of the components required to be clean have been capped.) Additionally, we have received our final engine, and our valves have been plumbed in. With the addition of these last pieces, our rocket has bones, some muscle, and a fully-developed digestive system!

Its taken an incredible amount of effort (and a remarkable number of late nights), but the team now has the full stack at our testing site in southern New Jersey. We are confident the rocket (as pictured below) will perform optimally when tested!

Our rocket, on its dolly, in our Hoboken lab space.

*Note: What we refer to as the “full stack” for testing is different than the “full stack” we will use for launch. In order to launch, we will first need to add on three more major components. (1) The carbon fiber “skin” of the rocket. (2) The machined titanium fins for the rocket’s “feet.” (3) The manufactured nose cone at the “head” of the rocket.

News

Ready to Test

July 9, 2019July 10, 2019
by Dakota

Here we go. The last fourteen months of work have all come down to this: testing. Over the last two weeks, we have traveled back and forth from South Jersey to inspect the site, set up infrastructure, and clear the area.

In the next 6 days, Castle Point Rocketry will be pursuing a rigorous testing schedule. The testing procedure is 65 pages… But what all will we be doing?

You’ll be able to follow along on live streams that we post to our social media pages. In case you’re still curious what we’re doing along the way, here’s a short explanation.

Phase One: Tank Testing

The first set of tests caters specifically to our experimental liquid oxygen (LOX) tank from Infinite Composites Technologies. Though the composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) is theoretically capable of handing pure oxygen at such cold temperatures and high pressure, we want to test it to be absolutely positive. That way, if we notice any problems, we can stop everything before we have it inside our rocket.

Our Tank Testing series consists of three tests. TT.01: COPV Cryogen Validation proves the tank can withstand cryogens at high pressure. (A gas is “cryogenic” if it can be turned into a liquid below -240°F .) Then, TT.02: COPV LOX Compatibility Validation and TT.03: COPV Cryogenic Pressure Validation step into chemical compatibility with LOX and a system at full pressure.

Phase Two: Full Stack Testing

The second set of tests is more complicated and involves more subsystems. Rather than just the LOX tank and its assorted plumbing, the next five tests incorporate the whole rocket — but don’t let it leave the ground. Computer, mechanical, and chemical systems all interact with one another to give the team an idea of the rocket’s performance.

Similar to the Tank Testing procedures, FST.01: Full Stack Pressurization Test and FST.02: Cold Flow Test simply ensure that everything can withstand operational temperature and pressure. Then, we introduce fire.

FST.03: Ignition Sequence Test is expected to be the longest test Castle Point Rocketry will perform. It is a critical juncture of the project, for limiting the time between when chemicals flow and when the engine ignites will conserve precious fuel and help us make it to the Karman Line. FST.04: Hot Abort Sequence Test then double-checks that, once turned on, we can turn it off as necessary.

Finally, the grand finale. FST.05: Full Stack Hot Fire Test. This test will be the most exciting, the most relieving, and the most Instagram-able. (So we’ve left room for it to happen twice.) Picture a rocket — without its nose or tail — strapped to the ground, straining upwards under full thrust. This test is essential not only to prove we can launch, but also to fully grasp the efficiency of our engine.

What Then?

And then, well, we pack up and go home. We’ll have a truck to return, a rocket to clean, and some data to send off to interested parties. Not to mention, we’ll be so ecstatic we probably won’t sleep for three days. (Or, alternatively, so ecstatic we will sleep for three days.) We have the future of this project to look forward to — including a launch looming in the near future.

News

More New Lab Space!

July 2, 2019July 3, 2019
by Dakota

Last week was a rather exciting time. Not only did we set up for testing, we moved our lab — twice. And all within four days.

Stevens is modernizing and expanding, so there are plenty of active construction sites around campus. You may remember that Castle Point Rocketry’s lab space in Griffith is right next to one. That’s why we had to move two months back. Early last week, we were notified of that construction zone needing to overtake our lab space for some finishing touches. We had to be out by Friday. So, we were offered another space in the basement of the Burchard Building.

The old machine shop in the basement of Burchard, after the first round of cleaning.

We went to look at the space. 200 extra square feet made the move enticing, but there was a lot of work that needed to be done. The school’s machine shop occupied this space for many years, so there were rust marks, flaky paint, and a fine layer of metal dust on every surface.

The team spent three nights up until 2:00am refinishing the room. We washed the walls. The floors were swept, vacuumed, rinsed, scrubbed, revacuumed, and squeegeed. We brought tables up and wrapped compressed air hoses up into the ceiling. Finally, it looked appropriate for our use.

Almost done cleaning — and our clean room up in the back.

The final play before moving all of our tools and rocket parts up was to set up the clean room. After all, bringing clean parts up from Griffith just to lay them on the floor of an old machine shop isn’t the best plan. Thursday night found Nathan and Dakota laying thick plastic siding and flooring, with Will and Tom adding a vestibule. We called it a night and headed out.

Friday morning, we visited another construction site — the one just outside Burchard. We wanted to use the rental truck to move our lab up all in one go, but needed permission first. In a whirlwind couple of hours, we found out that room was already promised to someone else… So our clean room was torn down, the tables were removed, and we skedaddled back down to Griffith.

And here we’ll stay for at least two more weeks. Sure, the excitement of new lab space was fleeting, but we won’t complain. No one can, with this view!

Home sweet home. Great for getting those creative juices flowing.

News

On the Road

July 2, 2019July 2, 2019
by Dakota

Castle Point Rocketry took its first official road trip. Destination: South Jersey.

The team packed up some supplies and drove to our proposed test site in southern New Jersey. Our goal was to survey the land, set up our test apparatus, and make sure our testing plan is viable. It only took us 27 hours, round-trip!

Our truck pulling out of campus — laden with test setup materials.

By far, the most difficult part of the journey was getting out of Hoboken. After the initial burden of getting through NYC metro traffic, though, the going was easy. Will, Nathan, Monica, Rodrigo, Dakota, and Tom made the 2.5-hour trek to our testing site and spent the night. Then, a full day in the sun lay ahead of us!

(Quick recap: The duckbill earth anchors keep everything on the ground so that we can measure thrust while the rocket engine fires. The gantry hoist pulls the truss upright.) While Will and Rodrigo focused on the logistics of securing our duckbill earth anchors into the ground, Tom and Dakota refinished the gantry hoist. The entire apparatus (test stand, gantry hoist, and trusses) was then laid our for placement and inspection. Luckily, we passed our own muster.

L-R: Our rental truck, the gantry hoist, the test stand, the truss, and a (unused) backhoe.

We were displeased when the evening’s forecasted rain came three hours early. That’s three untapped hours of perfectly good productivity! We securely wrapped all permanent features in tarps, then loaded up the truck before calling it a day.

Despite the early departure, we are happy with the day’s events. Among other things, we verified the land will suit our full stack testing and confirmed that our duckbill anchors need no doctoring for added support. And, just like that, the road trip was over. We skedaddled back to our Hoboken HQ to unpack and prepare for another full week of rocket science.

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Dolly Upgrade!

June 25, 2019June 25, 2019
by abe

Initially, we built a dolly out of 80/20 aluminum to wheel about the rocket. This dolly proved to be too short as our rocket got longer. So, we decided on an upgrade — wood! This new dolly is double the length of the previous.

Abe fills the new dolly’s tires with more air so it works extra-well.

Over time, our rocket has only gotten longer. (At least, after it’s initial shortening when we moved from a two-stage system to a one-stage system.) Our rocket is around 25 feet long. This dolly will be used to transport it around the test and launch sites.