The ASU student rocketry group Daedalus Astronautics is still not permitted to test its new rocket fuel developments on campus after one of its experiments exploded during testing more than a year ago.
In September 2012, five members of Daedalus were test-firing a new solid rocket propellant they had developed in-house, aerospace engineering senior and Daedalus President Gaines Gibson said. They were being extra safe about testing it, because they knew it was going to be extra aggressive, Gibson said.
“We did not fill the entire casing of the rocket with propellant," Gibson said. "We filled it half way up. We called up mentors and they said, ‘Yeah, that should work.’”
Despite testing the rocket behind a polycarbonate barrier that was approved by ASU Safety officials, informing the ASU and Tempe Police of the test, wearing vision and hearing protection, making sure no pedestrians or busses were around and ducking behind a six-inch thick concrete wall, something went wrong.
“About 3 or 4 seconds into the test, it exploded,” Gibson said. “It was a really violent explosion.”
The explosion did not cause extensive property damage, but it popped a vehicle tire and busted two windows, Gibson said.
No one was hurt. Perhaps the worst damage caused by the incident was to the club’s ability to test any further developmental experiments on campus, he said.
“We are obviously not allowed to test on campus," Gibson said. "So we took testing out to the desert."
Daedalus had an arrangement with a property owner in Rainbow Valley, Ariz., just south of the Estrella Mountains, to test its rockets on his land, but the owner sold the land in early August, and Daedalus was no longer able to test there, either.
“The new landowner didn’t like the idea of people testing rockets on his land,” Gibson said.
The student rocketry group has 20 members who are broken up into three teams: a solid rocket motor team, a hybrid rocket engine team and a liquid rocket engine team.
Gibson said the liquid rocket engine team has spent the past year developing the first liquid propellant rocket to be built at ASU. The team is almost ready to test its developments.
“Not being able to test since August is an inconvenience, but it is not stopping us,” said Gibson.
Not being able to test on campus will become an issue in the coming weeks however, Gibson said.
The club started working with ASU to build a testing structure on campus a year ago, but because of disagreements on the design, progress on the project has yet to be made.
Daedalus has done about 20 test fires this semester, he said.
Non-degree-seeking graduate student and Daedalus member Richard Stelling said had they been able to test on campus, they would have gotten closer to 200 tests done.
“Daedalus is involved in up-and-coming technology,” Stelling said. “Big companies are still using formulations that have been around a long time. It costs money to do research on new propellants, so they stick with the tried and true. Daedalus is on the forefront of that research.”
For now, the club is focusing its efforts on rocket fuel developments and outreach. They filed paperwork last week to enter a competition for a conference hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In 2012, the club won a first place award and two third place awards at the conference.
“I get to apply the theory I learn in the classroom to real world applications,” Stelling said. “I gained much more hands-on experience from Daedalus than from my undergraduate classes.”
Aerospace engineering graduate student Eduardo Canales, whose first rocket propellant test as a member of Daedalus was last year’s explosion, said he really enjoys Daedalus, because it is the type of student group that actually does something.
“At the end of the day, it is the friendships and camaraderie that I get out of the club,” Canales said. “It is a really good club to get involved with.”
Despite hurdles and setbacks, Daedalus is still working to advance rocketry propellants.
“Sometimes things happen, but at least we can say we got something out of this,” Canales said. “We gained knowledge.”
Reach the reporter at akcarr@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @AllyCarr2
